summer chicken, veggie and mango salad

OK, sometimes you take a gamble with dinner and lose. I once decided it was better to toss an entire corningware dish than to attempt to pry of the lid, burned on by starch. I was never able to open that dish to find out if the chicken finished cooking, but the pizza we finally at at 9pm was delicious.

Other times you take a gamble with dinner and score. This was one of those times. I made lemon cilantro dressing for my salad for lunch, but on the salad it was only so-so. For dinner, I had leftover skewers that my family loved, but not as many as we would need. I did have some potatoes for filler, but re-heated chicken and potatoes just didn't sound good. And so this salad was born, with the dressing to coat it. Even picky Lizzie ate it.

Oh, and I'm working on a lettuce-based salad that would be perfect with the lemon cilantro dressing - new salad recipe coming soon!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

For the dressing:
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 t plain yogurt or mayo

For the salad:
lemon cilantro dressing (above)
leftover chicken skewers (or 4 cups cooked chicken)
3 gold or red potatoes
2 or 3 bell peppers, any color
a couple asparagus spears, or 1/2 cup of green peas, or 1 cup seeded & diced tomatoes, or1/2 cup cut corn
1 ripe mango, cubed

1. Wash and cube the potatoes (peel 'em if you want to). Place in a large pot, add enough water to barely cover them, and bring them to a boil over high heat.
2. Once the potatoes reach a boil, reduce heat to medium, remove the lid, and continue cooking for about 15 minutes until soft but not mushy.
3. Meanwhile, heat grill to medium-high.
4. Grill bell peppers and veggie(s) until they get a little bit black (fire roasted).
5. Drain potatoes, remove to a plate, and place in fridge to cool. (see TIP below)
6. Remove roasted veggies from grill to a plate, and place in fridge to cool.
7. While potatoes and veggies cool, make the dressing by placing all dressing ingredients in a food process or blender and making a puree.
8. Chop chicken into cubes and place in a large bowl.
9. Add mango, cooled veggies and potatoes to chicken, pour dressing on top, and toss to coat.
10. Serve immediately, or cover and chill for up to 2 days.

**TIP - be careful where you put the steaming plates - not below your dairy! The heat will go straight up initially, so there shouldn't be anything "touchy" like dairy directly above the plates of hot food.