Lime Chicken Salad

The Recipe's Story

My husband takes a sandwich for lunch every day for his night shift. It travels well, requires no heating up and if work gets busy he can eat it with one hand. This means on days he has off a sandwich is that last thing he wants to eat for lunch. I wanted to find a healthy and filling meal that was quick and easy for a lunch. I decided a chicken salad would be wonderful and used what I had that week from my produce box to add flavor. Then, I looked up a vinaigrette recipe from Real Simple Magazine for a tangy, low fat  splash of flavor. Thus came about the Lime Chicken Salad filled with shallots, radishes, avocado and chicken over a bib lettuce and drizzled with lime vinaigrette. Now B looks forward to lunch with this on the menu.

Salads can be a healthy low calorie meal or loaded with fat from bacon bits and creamy dressings. This Lime Chicken Salad starts off with bib lettuce which has only 7 calories per cup and is high in Vitamin A and K. Chicken offers you lower fat but high protein. By cooking the chicken skin on and then removing it you cut down on a lot of fat but still get tender meat. The crunchy, refreshing and spicy radish gives you vitamin C and avocado, in moderation, is a healthy omega 3, vitamin C, K and B fruit. This salad will meet many of your health needs and fill you up.

Lime Chicken Salad

5 c bib lettuce, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
8 radishes, sliced
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T olive oil
1 tsp. honey
1 12oz bone in skin on chicken breast
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the chicken breast, skin on, in an oven safe dish and bake in the oven for 40 min or until cooked through. Remove from oven and cool. Then, remove the skin and pull chicken apart into one inch pieces. Set aside.

2. In a large serving bowl combine washed lettuce, shallots and radishes. Add the chicken and avocado and gently toss.

3. In a separate small bowl combine the honey, lime juice, olive oil and a 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper. Whisk together to emulsify ingredients. Pour over salad, toss once again and enjoy.

Servings: 2

Calories: 395 per serving