The Ultimate Grilled Chicken and Avocado Salad Recipe
There's no meal that's more necessary to make yourself than a salad. It's a healthy meal that lets you load up on good-for-you greens, and it packs the potential for including all sorts of supportive, superfood ingredients that your body needs every day. That is…in theory.
Sometimes, salads can end up being belly bombs in disguise, and you'd never know any better. When put in the hands of a restaurant line cook, a harmless bowl of greens can turn into an unmitigated mash-up of dressing deluges, cheese flurries, and crouton catastrophes. That defeats the purpose of your seemingly healthier lunch or dinner option, doesn't it?
How about you make your own salad in-house and bring back the necessary parts of a true healthy salad? This recipe is rich in protein, and it is guaranteed to cut the number of calories you'd have on a salad you order in a restaurant in half.
Nutrition: 500 calories, 24 g fat (3 g saturated), 660 mg sodium
Serves 4
You'll Need
12 oz cooked chicken
12 cups arugula (1 prewashed bag)
1⁄4 cup dried cranberries
1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced
1⁄4 cup crumbled goat cheese
1⁄4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1⁄4 cup honey mustard vinaigrette
Salt and black pepper to taste
How to Make It
Combine the chicken, arugula, cranberries, avocado, goat cheese, walnuts, vinaigrette, salt, and pepper in a large bowl, using your hands or 2 forks to fully incorporate the dressing.
Eat This Tip
Who doesn't love a good avocado? It's a superfood that packs a long list of nutrients into one perfectly green serving. Avocados contain vitamin E (which is great for the health of your hair and skin), omega-3 fatty acids (which can help reduce cholesterol), and folic acid (which is great for women who are pregnant). Convinced yet? Well, here are some tips on how to pit an avocado like a pro. (And no, you don't need to spend 45 minutes peeling the pebbly skin.)
How to pit an avocado:
- Work the blade carefully around the pit.
- Thwack the pit with blade; twist and carefully remove.
- Slice or dice, then spoon out the soft flesh.
