Blackened Chicken Salad

You could just buy a spicy seasoning mix to use on this chicken, but I found that so many of them contain too much salt or MSG, so I included my spice-rub recipe at the end of this post. This salad and spice rub would also be great with fish!

3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp honey
3 cups chopped tomato
3/4 cup diced yellow or green bell pepper
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
3 tbsp Spicy Seasoning *see recipe below
Cooking spray
1 lb green beans
8 cups torn romaine lettuce

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl, stir with a whisk to combine.
2. Rub chicken evenly with Spicy Seasoning. Coat a large heavy skillet with cooking spray, and place over med-high heat until hot. Add chicken, and cook 7 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan, and cool. Cut chicken across grain into thin slices.
3. Steam green beans, covered 2 minutes. Rinse with cold water, and drain. Combine green beans and lettuce in large bowl; drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Top with tomatoes and chicken.

*Spicy Seasoning

2 1/2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp ground red pepper
1 tbsp black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients; store in airtight container.