It’s a nice experience to take the family out for some gourmet food at a restaurant, but every time you decide to make the food yourself, you end up saving a lot of money. Instead of going out to a sit-down restaurant twice a month, try making some gourmet dishes yourself at home.
For example, are you a fan of chicken salad? If so, you would probably love California Pizza Kitchen’s BBQ chicken salad dish that sells for for $12. If your entire family of four orders one each, that’s $48. With tax and tip, that comes out to almost $50! This means making the dish yourself at home can save you around $35. In my opinion, it is well worth the 30 minutes it takes to prepare.
So how do you make this delicious meal? Here is my unique spin on it:
BBQ Chicken Chop Salad
(Compare to California Pizza Kitchen’s “Original Chopped”)
Preparation time: 30 mins
Servings: 4 – 5
Ingredients:
¾ lb. Boneless Chicken Breast ($3) 2 heads of Romaine Lettuce ($2.5)
2 Tomatoes ($1) 1 Avocado ($1)
1 8 oz bag of frozen Corn ($2) 1 8 oz can of Black Beans ($1)
4 oz Mozzarella Cheese ($2) Tortilla Strips ($1)
Hickory BBQ Sauce Ranch
(The price of the BBQ and Ranch sauces aren’t taken into account, assuming you have enough in the fridge to drizzle over each serving.)
Total Cost: $15
(Money Saving Tip: Keep an eye out for “red tag sales” or “manager’s specials” which will often have major markdowns.)
Instructions:
1. Lightly season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
2. Add a tablespoon of oil to pan on medium heat, then place the chicken breasts in the pan.
3. Cook the chicken breasts on one side for 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. After chicken is done, set aside and let cool before cutting into strips.
4. Rinse the romaine lettuce and separate the leaves. Then chop the lettuce into pieces and place into a large bowl.
5. Strain the black beans.
6. Defrost and strain the corn.
7. Dice the tomatoes.
8. Combine the black beans, corn and diced tomatoes with the lettuce.
9. Add a ½ cup of ranch dressings, more or less to desired amount, then toss and mix salad.
10. Slice chicken into ¼ in. strips.
To make your own tortilla strips:
1. Slice corn tortillas into ¼ in. strips.
2. Add 3 cups oil (vegetable or canola) into a pot and let it heat to 400*F. Once oil is heated, place tortilla strips into the oil.
3. Once golden brown, remove them from the oil and place on paper towel to drain the excess oil. Lightly salt and let cool.
To plate, top the salad with mozzarella cheese and tortilla strips. On top, place strips of chicken and drizzle with bbq sauce. You have just saved yourself $35! Bon appétit!
