Layered Chicken Taco Salad

Well, this was the final installment of the leftover chicken from Saturday night.  Not too bad that a 4 lb. chicken gave me 3 dinners and 1 lunch including spatchcock chicken on Saturday night, cherry walnut chicken salad on Sunday night (and lunch on Monday), and last night I had this tasty layered chicken taco salad.   I think the chicken cost me just under $5.00 which made these last three dinners (and one lunch) just under $1.00 per serving plus a little extra for produce and pantry items.  Pretty good stretch of a buck!

I heated 1/2 can of refried beans with a little bit of water to loosen the consistency and a few sprinkles of chili powder, cumin and coriander.  At the same time, I heated some shredded chicken breast seasoned also with chili powder, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, salt and pepper, a few spoonsfuls of taco sauce and about 1/4 cup of water.  Once the chicken was heated through and the sauce reduced, I placed the beans in the bottom of a shallow bowl  and topped it with the chicken taco meat.  I added a layer of 1/2 cup of shredded mild cheddar to the chicken when it was still hot and let the cheese shrink and melt.  Finally, I added a 1/2 chopped tomato, chopped red onion, 1/2 chopped avocado, jalapeno slices, a dollop of sour cream and freshly torn cilantro leaves. Serve with tortilla chips and lots of extra hot sauce!