Got A Post Holiday Dinner Blah? I’ve Got An Idea For You

Well, it's officially after the Labor Day holiday.  I'm sure someone cooked, if it wasn't you, it was someone outside grillin and making it work.  And if you did do the cooking, I get that you might be.... burned out.
Sorry.  That was a grilling joke.  ANYWAY.

You know what you're facing tonight. Nobody's really feeling ambitious about cooking, you can't just have leftovers again tonight, and it's just too expensive to get delivery.  But I was looking around to find some ideas, and I might have found one that might actually work that doesn't have some stupid crazy ingredient that you don't already have around the house.

Well, okay, this isn't the salad recipe pictured that I'm about to tell you.  BUT. You might have most of the ingredients for this already, especially if you hosted the pot luck for Labor Day.  You probably can use up some of the stuff that was left over for this. Basically it's a regular taco salad with a nice homemade dressing. Here we go:

INGREDIENTS:
For the dressing (makes about 3/4 cup):
1 cup loosely packed cilantro, washed, stems removed, and roughly chopped (about 3/4 bunch)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1/2 lime)
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
A few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
Water, to thin

Get our free mobile app

For the salad:
2 1/4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup cooked and cooled quinoa, optional
1/2 cup black, kidney, or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
1/2 large avocado, diced
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (from about 2 onions), light green and white parts only
1/2 cup crumbled tortilla chips
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the dressing, purée all ingredients in a blender or food processor until well-combined and smooth. If the dressing seems thick, drizzle in water a tablespoon or two at a time with the blender running until thinned to the point where you like it. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.  To assemble salad, combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Pour desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss well. Serve immediately.

BAM.  Done. One thing I might do is maybe defrost a chicken breast or something and cook it up to add in, maybe? If you don't have some chicken you put on the grill left over. Or maybe take one of those cans of chicken breast you have around somewhere in there and put that in. I got the recipe from The Kitchen.

What are some of your easy Tuesday dinners?  Do you just throw a frozen pizza in the oven, or do you know, try to cook cook something?

Saladly yours,
Behka