BBQ Chicken Salad w/Creamy BBQ Cilantro Lime Dressing

Looking for a recipe to use up more stuff in the frig, I ran across this one for which I had everything except a lime and some iceberg lettuce (and just using romaine would have been fine with me)! Imagine! Everything on hand and the most time-consuming preparation was the dressing....about 5 minutes! Plus, this is a pretty healthy, lower-fat salad as I used reduced-fat mayo which only accounts for about half of the ingredients in the dressing. I halved the dressing recipe and there's plenty left for other salads or it's a pretty good dip all by itself. Nice, interesting flavors.

I'm still working on using up the meat from the turkey I roasted last week and this was a good use. And I had some extra BBQ sauce from our favorite BBQ restaurant (BONES, in Chattanooga). Also, in place of the red onion and cilantro, I used the leftover pico de gallo I had from the quesadillas last week.

I'm going to list the recipe as I found it, but I did cut it down a bit, using about 1/3 of the salad recipe for the two of us. I cut the dressing recipe in half and this made about 1 1/2 cups, so plenty left for the future.

This will make a nice summertime salad, also.

BBQ CHICKEN SALAD (Serves 4-6)

3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 cups BBQ sauce (or to taste.....add a bit at a time until it suits you)
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cored and chopped
2 romaine hearts, chopped
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, cubed small or shredded
4 oz Monterey jack cheese, cubed small or shredded
(I used a shredded Mexican Cheese package in lieu of the cheddar and Jack)

Combine the cooked chicken and BBQ sauce in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a large bowl, toss together the iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, red onion, cilantro, corn, black beans, and cheese. Toss the mixed salad with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the dressing, if desired. Otherwise, you can serve the dressing on the side. Place salad on plates and top with the prepared BBQ chicken and additional dressing.

CREAMY BBQ CILANTRO LIME DRESSING

1 cup mayo, light or regular
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 to 1/2 BBQ sauce

Combine all the ingredients together and whisk to combine. Keep refrigerated.