Corn Salad & Oh So Easy Chicken Dinner

Corn Salad & Oh So Easy Chicken Dinner

Today I decided I was in the mood for chicken. I wanted a salad to go with it and yesterday I talked to a friend who had just visited her sister and she had prepared a delicious roasted corn salad. Now what goes better with chicken than corn?
I was not going to use the same vegetables as her sister but a corn salad yes that would be good. 
So I did a search for corn salad on the net. 
I knew what I wanted to use in it I just needed to know what the appropriate spices and oil and vinegar would be. Once I established that I was ready to make my salad.
Here is what I did:

Corn Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup of frozen corn. ( use can use fresh if you can afford it I could not and I had        frozen corn on hand)
1/8 cup of oil ( I use peanut but olive is good to or what ever oil you prefer)
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning (if you don't have this use basil dry or fresh)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

(Here is where what you prefer comes in)

This is the vegetable I used because I had them on hand.

1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup of frozen peppers and onions
3 green onions 
1/2 cup of black olives ( you can freeze the other half of the can)
Cheese ( use feta if you have it but if you don't use what you have I am using pepper jack)

Here is the dressing:

2 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of vinegar (use balsamic if you have it. The sweetness will add a 
depth to the salad. I am personally using maple balsamic)

Directions:

1.  If you are using frozen corn place the corn in a frying pan with the 1/8 cup of oil and the salt and pepper.
2. If you are using fresh rub the corn with oil and salt and pepper before roasting
3. While the corn is cooking combine the olives and vegetables that you have chopped and add some salt and pepper along with either the basil or Italian seasoning.
4. By the time you have gotten the vegetables ready the corn should be done.
pour the corn over the vegetables and olives. 
5. Cover and put in the refrigerator until dinner time. When dinner is ready to serve top the salad with the cheese and olive and vinegar and it is ready to serve.
It is delicious!

Next lets make the chicken.
This a recipe from the Dump Dinner cookbook.
This is how we are going to make it:

Oh So Easy Chicken Dinner

Directions::

 2 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless, You can get a whole package for 5        dollars at Walmart and you get six breasts that is a great bargain and the chicken is great!)
1 can of green beans
2 potatoes cubed
1/2 package of Good Seasonings Italian Dressing Mix
1/2 stick of Margarine or butter

Directions:

Spray a 9" X 13" inch pan with cooking spray
2 Empty the green beans down one side of the pan
3 Place the chicken breasts in the middle of the dish in a line
3 Put cut up potatoes on the third side of the pan
4 drizzle melted butter over the top of everything
5. Sprinkle the dry Italian Dressing Mix over the entire pan
6. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour, removing foil for the last   15 minutes 
7. Remove from the oven, and serve.

I still have to do some checking on the dry Italian seasoning mix. I think if I look around I will find something less expensive but for now I will use the Good Seasons. 

The nice thing about this dinner is that it will make two complete meals one to enjoy for dinner and one you can put away for another day
If you do this and you get creative with the salad and use what you have on hand this dinner will come in for under two dollars for the two meals.
Every once and a while I want a real dinner and this one will fill this bill!

Enjoy!!!!