Jerk Chicken Noodle Salad without Noodles

Another use for the bountiful yellow squash crop: julienned to play the role of noodles in this chicken salad. Saute sliced chicken breast in jerk seasoning. Let cool. Add julienned squash, corn, diced tomatoes. Toss with dressing of choice. I used a garlic-revved Caesar. I plan to do this again with an Asian twist.

Jamaican Jerk Spices

Do a quick search about Jamaican jerk seasoning, and plenty of recipes pop up. My spice mix is a cheater mix. The ratio is half Jamaica Me Crazy brand pepper and half Jamaican jerk seasoning from Cost Plus. I stir up big batches because when I use the seasoning, I use a lot.
About a half-cup of the spice mixture went into this batch of sliced, sauteed chicken, with some zucchini thrown in. I let the chicken cool and tossed it with corn, kidney beans, sliced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers. shredded Monterey-jack cheddar and ranch dressing. This chicken is also good wrapped in a warm tortilla with lettuce and cheese.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Sliced chicken browned with jerk seasoning. I ran out of my favorite Pampered Chef container of jerk seasoning, so I had to cobble my own together. I used allspice, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, thyme, garlic granules, ground black pepper and a pinch of cinnamon. The brown sugar caramelizes a little. I tossed the chicken with sliced cucumbers, sliced scallions, drained canned corn, rinsed kidney beans, lettuce and shredded pepper jack cheese - and then added a ranch dressing. I sliced corn tortillas thin and quickly fried them in oil to crisp them up and put them on top of the salad.