Grilled Balsamic Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese

It was HOT here a couple of weeks ago, and I felt that was a good excuse not to go to the grocery store for awhile. So this salad is what I threw together with some chicken I had in the freezer, the cheese I had on hand (I always have cheese on hand) and the veggies I picked up at the farmer's market outside of my building. Some heirloom cherry tomatoes and sweet jersey corn were the highlights at the farmers market. I was excited because I recently learned that you don't even have to cook the corn, you can just cut it off the cob and throw it in the salad raw. I made a balsamic dijon for the salad dressing and the end result was a refreshing dinner on a hot summer night.  Before I share the recipe, I'd like to tell you that I can never spell balsamic right on my first try. Keep reading for the recipe.

Stacked Tomato, Onion, and Corn Salad

It's that time of year when I can always find fresh tomatoes and sweet corn the cob at the farmers market. They both taste great on their own, but you'll see me cutting the corn off of the cob and throwing it in a lot of dishes this summer. Tonight I decided to make this simple and refreshing stacked tomato and onion salad that allows you to enjoy the flavors of both. 

Firecracker Shrimp Salad

I made this salad using The Pioneer Woman's Firecracker Shrimp, which is delicious on its own as well as in this salad, and is so so easy to make. I agree with her that Sriracha is the best hot sauce choice, so definitely use that when making this recipe.  I don't skewer the shrimp before putting them on my grill pan, call me lazy.

I love shrimp, of course fresh is the best, but I stock up on frozen uncooked shrimp as it thaws and cooks up quickly, which is perfect for weeknight dinners.

For this salad I used fresh shrimp that I picked up on sale at the store and tossed it with mixed greens,  avocado, corn, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, black beans, and onions.  I threw on a little ranch dressing as it helped balance the very spicy shrimp (because I always use extra Sriracha).  I'll be making this again, very soon.

Blackened Steak Salad

My Grandpa always gives us Omaha Steaks for Christmas, so I decided to make this Blackened Steak Salad tonight with some tenderloins we had in the freezer.  You've probably already noticed that we're fans of red meat so Grandpa's gift gets pretty good use.  This recipe from Epicurious was an excellent use of the steak, I will definitely be making this again.  The rub on the steak combined with the salad dressing was perfect.  The only changes I made were adding sautéed mushrooms and extra tomatoes, next time I'll add more sautéed mushrooms.   You probably don't need as much blue cheese as my husband added, but he cleans the dishes so I keep quiet.  We had some DeLoach Zinfandel with our meal, which we also enjoyed.