On the Menu
Grilled chicken salad recipes
Chicken and greens - birds of a feather
On this page we'll cover grilled chicken salad recipes - salads topped with grilled chicken, which adds protein and more complexity of flavor to a salad of vegetables, or greens, or pasta.
We won't be talking about chicken salad sandwich recipes, except to give a quick idea right here on how to make a chicken salad of your own: Dice some already cooked chicken (for instance, leftover from a chicken roast, or a chicken breast or thigh that's been grilled or pan-fried), cut up some green onion, a bit of celery, and some parsley, and mix with enough mayonnaise or sour cream or yogurt to give it a creamy texture. Add seasonings - such as plain old salt and pepper, a bit of chipotle pepper puree, or some curry powder - and mix again. Spread on your bread, top it with some sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, or lettuce, and voila - a quick lunch is ready.
But much more interesting, in my view, are grilled chicken salad recipes, where the star ingredient is grilled chicken but the bulk of the salad - the extras in the crowd scene, as it were - is made up of nutritious fresh greens or vegetables, and perhaps a carbohydrate such as pasta or rice.
For instance, one of my favorite grilled chicken salad recipes is chicken seasar salad, which combines the protein and flavor of chicken with the roughage and crunchiness of romaine lettuce. One of the more exotic grilled chicken salad recipes is Asian chicken and bok choy salad, which tastes great hot or warm (but is not so hot when cold!).
We've put a couple of grilled chicken salad recipes on this page; we're adding more as we build up this site. For now, see:
- Grilled chicken and green salad - with a Middle Eastern twist
- Asian chicken cabbage salad, a raw vegetable salad topped with grilled chicken thighs
Chicken caesar salad recipe
Most everyone loves caesar salad - just go easy on the garlic if you're going to be socializing after the meal with others who didn't eat it! For instance, we love grilled chicken salad recipes at our house because after we've eaten the salad for dinner, all four of us can take it as a leftover lunch to work or school the next day. But when it comes to eating chicken caesar salad on a work night - a night when the next day is a work day - we use much less garlic than called for.
In our family we prefer dark meat - more flavorful, and often more economical. We buy free range chicken meat fed on a diet free of hormones or antibiotics, from our local organic food co-op - rather than the factory-farmed, industrial strength chicken from the supermarket. It's healthier, better for family farms, supports small businesses, and, not surprisingly, tastes much better than the supermarket version.
One key to a safe and delicious caesar salad is to coddle the egg, as explained in the directions. This cooks the egg enough to give the dressing a creamier consistency, and to destroy any harmful bacteria that may be inside the egg - without turning your dressing into egg salad!
Ingredients
1/2 to 3/4 lb de-boned chicken - breast or thigh to taste
1/2 baguette, sliced into strips and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 egg, coddled for 60 seconds
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of one small lemon or half a large lemon
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp capers or pickled peppercorns
1/2 cup Parmegiano Reggiano cheese, grated
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp hot mustard
1 large or two small heads romaine lettuce
Directions
1. Peel one garlic clove, slice in half, and rub down the chicken with it. Grill the chicken on both sides until done. If the chicken has bones in it, cook first, and debone once it's done - this is easier and wastes less meat. Set the chicken aside to cool.
2. While the chicken is grilling, start the croutons. Flatten the garlic clove used on the chicken, and one more, with a large knife. Place in a skillet and sweat at low heat with the 1/4 cup of olive oil until the garlic sizzles for 30 seconds. Remove the garlic, turn the flame up slightly, and toss in the bread cubes, stirring quickly to coat all parts with the oil. Cook until the croutons are nicely toasted. Make sure not to leave much if any garlic behind in the crouton mix because it will burn.
3. Coddle the egg: bring a small pot filled 2" high with water to a boil, remove from the heat, and place the egg, still in its shell, into the pot. Cover with the lid. Remove the egg after 45 seconds.
4. Crack the coddled egg into the salad bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, hot mustard, and grated parmesan. Add salt and a few twists of black pepper.
5. Flatten and mince the second garlic clove and add to the other ingredients.
6. Prepare the romaine lettuce by removing any damaged leaves, washing and drying all other leaves, breaking into pieces roughly 2 to 3 inches on a side, and removing any exceptionally thick spine sections from individual pieces. Set aside.
7. Whisk the dressing in the salad bowl briskly with an egg whisk or a wooden spoon, until the ingredients are well blended.
8. Toss in the lettuce leaves and capers or peppercorns, and stir to coat with dressing.
9. Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, slice into 1/2 inch strips. Place on top of the tossed salad.
10. Present the salad with the chicken at the top; only mix in while serving.
Asian chicken and bok choy salad
The key to a good bok choy salad is to serve it hot or warm - not cold - and to get the right blend of sweet, sour, and salt. Also, you don't want to cook the greens as much as you would when serving as a stir fry - just enough to bring out the bright green of the leaves.
This is one of my favorite grilled chicken salad recipes - it combines the intense flavor of sesame oil with the bite of ginger and the crunch of bok choy. You can use greens such as kale or swiss chard if you can't find bok choy. Make sure you get toasted sesame oil - if it's not toasted it won't have a sesame taste at all. You can buy it in most Chinese greengrocers or in the oriental or Asian foods section of your supermarket.
Ingredients
1 chicken breast, grilled
1 large or 2 small heads bok choy, washed and dried
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
3 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp hot mustard
3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice or cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seeds (black or brown if possible)
Directions
1. Cut the washed bok choy. For large leaves, cut the thick stalk parts into 1/2 inch wide sections and set in one bowl, and cut the leafy green parts into 2 by 2 inch sections and put in a second bowl. The idea is to cook the thick parts for a couple of minutes longer than the greens, since the green parts take almost no time to cook. For smaller bok choy, just cut each leaf in half and be sure to toss the stalky parts into the wok or skillet first.
2. Blend the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, mustard, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, lemon juice or cider vinegar, and sugar in a salad bowl. Stir until the sugar and mustard are well dissolved
3. Slice the cooked chicken into 1/4 inch wide, 2 inch long strips.
4. Add the vegetable oil to the skillet along with 1/4 cup water, and turn the heat to medium-high. Adding the water helps both steam the bok choy and prevent the oil from getting too hot. Toss in the thick stem parts of the leaves and sautee for one minute. Toss in the leafy green parts of the leaves and sautee for only 30 seconds more.
5. Remove the bok choy from the skillet and quickly blend into the dressing in the bowl.
6. Place the chicken on top of the bok choy, and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top as a garnish. Mix again only right when dishing out.
You can find lots of great chicken recipes as well as many other healthy Chinese recipes at Amazing-Chinese-Food.com.
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