Tuesday, May 12, 2015

CHICKEN SALAD with ZESTY DIJON DRESSING



This recipe was initially going to be a Quinoa salad dish, however I wanted something light for a light dinner and decided to leave out the quinoa carbs. You could use whatever raw vegetables you have on hand, such as capsicum, cabbage, shallots, the list goes on. I like adding lentils or legumes to my salads for an additional hit of protein. As you may have realised with the ingredients in my recipes, I do not prescribe to the Paleo way of eating and think that eating lentils, legumes and grains is very important for my health.  You can also add a touch of crumbled feta or toasted almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to this salad for more texture and flavour. Look back at my Poaching Chicken recipe for steps on how to poach correctly or if pressed for time, buy a free range cooked chicken! The zesty dijon mustard is a favourite of mine, as it is filled with flavour and is low in calories- try to use apple cider vinegar as it contains less sugar than other vinegars. 



INGREDIENTS


  • 300g cooked chicken breast, shredded 
  • 150g green beans, trimmed & roughly chopped
  • 2 generous handful of baby spinach
  • 2 medium tomatoes, finely diced
  • 1 x 400g tin of brown lentils, rinsed & drained 
  • 100g carrot, grated 
  • 1 Lebanese cucumber or 1/2 continental cucumber, diced 
  • 1 small to medium ripe avocado, diced 
  • 3-4 tablespoons fresh chives / basil / parsley, finely chopped 
  • a generous amount of ground black pepper 

Zesty Dijon Dressing
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or minced 
  • 1 heaped tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • the juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime 
  • 2 tablespoons water 
  • ground black pepper 

COOKING 

1. Combine all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss well to combine. 

2. Make the salad dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and stirring with a fork to combine. If the salad dressing is too thick, try adding a little extra water. 


Serves / 
Total Preparation time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

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