Chopped Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of “tender hearts” salad mix otherwise, a head of butter letter, a head of iceberg and a heart of romaine. (If using the whole heads you probably won’t need to use all of it)
• 6 roma (plum) tomatoes, preferably red ripe home grown or from the vine
• 1 large cucumber, peeled
• 3 strips of turkey bacon, I’ve used Butterball or Oscar Meyer, cooked crisp
• 3 cups of small pasta, I use whole wheat, cooked per package instructions using salted water to keep from sticking
• 2 boxes of crumbled feta cheese about 6 oz each, I used garden herb and reduced fat
• 1 package (12 oz.) of precooked fajita chicken strips or just cook 2 chicken breasts in the microwave with some lemon and Italian seasoning for about 6 minutes until tender and white all the way through.
• 1 can (about 6 oz.) black olives 
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

You can prepare the night before and keep everything separate in the fridge and mix right before serving. You basically chop everything in a food processor.  (If you use whole chicken breasts, slice them into strips first.) You can chop some things by hand (tomatoes, cucumber and bacon), but the processor was very easy.

Right before serving, layer everything in the big bowl starting with the lettuce which filled the bowl about ½ way up. Then at the end, toss it while adding the salt and pepper. You could also toss in dressing, but I like it without any dressing so I offer dressing options on the side.

*Recipe courtesy of Ruth Walker