Mango Chipotle BBQ Chicken Salad

True Story:

Yesterday morning I got the kids up, made their breakfast, and then cut up onions, mangoes and garlic, then simmered all of the ingredients in a sauce pot for 15 minutes to make homemade BBQ sauce.  When I got home I finished off the sauce, marinated chicken breasts, and made homemade salad dressing.  At exactly 5:30pm my husband walks in the door and asks "what was wrong with the 10 bottles of marinade we already have in the fridge?"

Nothing.  Nothing would have been wrong with using a store-bought marinade.  Or a store-bought salad dressing, for that fact.  But I thought I was the shit making it all from scratch.

You can be the shit too.  Minus the non-appreciative husband.  Here's what you need:

INGREDIENTS
 

For the Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce (makes 2 1/4 cups):

1 mango, chopped

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (or 3 or 4... or the whole jar.  See notes under 'verdict')

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup apple juice

1/4 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

For the dressing:

2 Tablespoons prepared Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce

2 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

1-2 teaspoons lime juice

salt & pepper

For the salad:

2 chicken breasts

1 vine-ripened tomato, cut into wedges

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 bag Dole Romaine Salad mix

sweet corn (optional.  I may be the shit but I don't have time to cook sweet corn only to give it ample time to cool, cut off the cob, and add to the salad.)

DIRECTIONS


1. For the Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce: Combine all ingredients for Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Let cool then transfer to a food processor or blender, and process until smooth.

2. For the dressing: Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Taste, then add more lime juice, salt and/or pepper if necessary.

3. For the salad: Marinate chicken breasts in some of the prepared Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce for at least 15 minutes, or up to 3 hours. Grill over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes per side until no longer pink in the middle. Allow to rest for 5 minutes off the grill before slicing.


4. Divide lettuce between two plates, then top with grilled corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and grilled chicken. Drizzle with prepared dressing.

VERDICT

It looks like a lot of ingredients and a lot of work, but honestly it's not that bad.  It was especially easy to make the sauce in the morning before work, and it cut a lot of time off prep later that night.

My husband wasn't a fan of the dressing, he prefers vinagrettes.  I thought it was great though.

As for the peppers... don't limit yourself to one little itty bitty pepper out of the jar.  I used four.  And it still wasn't that spicy.  So go ahead, add the whole damn thing!  After all, you are the shit!

Lastly, this makes a good amount of sauce.  I used half for the marinade, a few tablespoons for the dressing, and the rest I threw into a zip lock for the freezer.  We'll definitely use the leftover freezer stash on chicken breasts (or shrimp, hmm...) in the future.