Chicken and Bacon Autumn Chopped Salad Recipe

 

After a weekend of lots and lots of food, I was craving something a little bit lighter for dinner tonight . . . but with my husband being the "meat and potatoes" guy that he is, he doesn't like the idea of having salad for a main course, so I added some chicken and crumbled bacon to make it more "manly". It was the perfect dinner for our family after all the food we devoured over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Ingredients
*6 to 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
*2 medium apples, chopped (pears are also delicious if you want to use those)
*1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
*1 cup chopped walnuts (pecans or almonds are also a yummy substitution)
*8 slices bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled (we used turkey bacon- use what you want)
*4 to 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
*1-2 grilled chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
*3/4 cup Poppy seed Salad Dressing (I like Brianna's)
*1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette (I used store brand because it tastes just the same to me)

Directions
*In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, apples, cranberries, walnuts, bacon, chicken and feta cheese.
*In a smaller bowl, combine poppy seed dressing with balsamic vinaigrette. Drizzle over salad right before serving. If you prefer your salad to have more dressing, feel free to experiment with the combination.
(This salad makes enough for about 6-8 servings. If you are not going to be eating it all in one sitting, only put dressing on what you will be eating or it will get all soggy.)

Recipe adapted from Espresso and Cream.