Description
Health is Wealth is exactly what this veggie packed, crisp and refreshing salad tastes like. It’s filled with thinly shaved colorful veggies, tender lemon garlic chicken, and a simple lemon fig vinaigrette. You’ll be left loving the combination of textures and flavors, and feeling GREAT.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Salad:
- 1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 head of dino kale, de stemmed and chopped
- 3/4 cup white quinoa
- 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced with a mandolin
- 2 persian cucumbers, cut into thin half moons
- 2 stalks of celery, thinly sliced with a mandolin
- 2 radishes, thinly sliced with a mandolin
- 4 ounces of goat cheese (optional truffle infused Vermont Creamery goat cheese)
- 15 Multigrain crackers
For the Lemon Garlic Chicken:
- 1.5 lbs chicken tenders (or chicken breast)
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the lemon fig vinaigrette:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of fig jam
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the quinoa – add the ¾ cup of raw white quinoa to a pot. Toast for a few seconds on high heat, then add 1.5 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Make sure to measure the water using a liquid measuring cup, or just reduce the water amount by a few tablespoons to ensure you don’t get mushy quinoa. Bring up to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove the lid and fluff.
- Marinate the chicken. Make the lemon garlic chicken marinade in a bowl, mix the chicken with this, and let sit while you wash the vegetables and make the vinaigrette.
- Wash, dry, and prep the vegetables – chop the romaine and kale. Then use a mandolin or very thinly slice the carrot, cucumbers, radish, and celery.
- Make the lemon fig vinaigrette. Combine everything in a glass jar or bowl. Taste, adjust seasonings as desired, and set aside.
- Cook the chicken – sear in a cast iron or pan for ~3-4 minutes on each side. You can also cook this however you prefer to cook chicken (ex. Air fryer, oven, etc).
- Once the chicken is cooked, dice into ½” pieces.
- Assemble each salad – lay down a bed of romaine, and top with a handful of thinly sliced vegetables (about ½ cup of the thinly cut vegetables). Add 1⁄3 cup of cooked quinoa, ½ cup of diced chicken, and 4-5 crushed multigrain crackers. Add a drizzle of dressing, taste, adjust with more dressing as desired, and serve.
Equipment
Notes
I loved using the Vermont Creamery Truffle goat cheese in this recipe. However, if you cannot find this or do not prefer truffle, any goat cheese or even feta cheese would be delicious in this recipe.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: American