Chicken, Avocado & Tomato Salad

 

I don't always eat high fat hedonistic food.  Sometimes I actually do try to eat healthy.  Well, most of the time I do, it just doesn't look like that on here!  

Today for my dinner I made myself a lush creamy chicken and avocado salad, with the creamy bit  meaning the avocado. I adore avocado. 

 

Not only is this low in carbs and keto friendly, but it is also totally gluten free for those who cannot tolerate gluten.   If you rein in the dressing, it is also low in fat and I think totally Diabetic friendly.

Tender, perfectly cooked pieces of chicken sit atop a salad composed of mixed salad leaves, creamy avocado,  and rehydrated sun dried tomatoes.  Crisp pepitas or sunflower pumpkin seeds as you may know them, make for a tasty and crispy garnish.

 

You begin by marinating a boneless skinless chicken breast in a simple mixture of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and some seasoning.

I cut the chicken breast through the middle horizontally, which really helps to ensure a tender finish when cooking.

 

Because it is thinner it doesn't take quite as long to cook it and still get it nicely browned.  It also stays nice and moist that way. 

I used sun dried tomatoes that have not been preserved in oil or in water. I buy them in a little tub at the farm market behind my house.  They are really tasty and very easy to rehydrate by putting them in a cup and adding some boiling water.

 

Just leave them to plump up for a few minutes and then drain.   I pat them dry after.  

You can snip them up with a pair of kitchen scissors, or leave them as they are. I just left them as they were.

 

I love avocado.  I used to be able to buy them frozen in the UK.   They were excellent. I think I will start buying them up when they are on offer and freezing them when I can.

Make sure your avocado is ripe.  Ripe avocados will have a dark green to nearly black skin, and should yield slightly when lightly pressed.

 

You should not be able to leave an indentation that stays and they shouldn't feel mushy.  A ripe avocado will also have a pebbly skin rather than a smooth one.

There is nothing so lush and rich as a ripe avocado, but unripe ones are not very appealing or tasty.  Been there, done that!

 

I remember ordering a sandwich as what was supposedly a premier sandwich shop in Chester in the UK one time. It was a California club or some such.

It was supposed to have Avocado in it, which it did, very sparse though I have to say.  It was not ripe avocado however and was really nasty so I did remove it.  Hard and tasteless.

 

You would think that a shop which specializes in sandwiches would know enough about all of the ingredients they are offering in their sandwiches to get it right!!! 

Obviously not.  Either that or their staff was not properly trained.

 

I just used a mix of garden salad leaves here today.  Oh how I miss the Baby Gem lettuces from the UK.  They were so good.  

They looked like little tiny romaine lettuces, but a bit rounder and had a lovely bitter flavor.  I could eat them just like apples, they were so good.

 

I have not seen them here at all. Perhaps this winter I will look for some seeds and possibly plant some next summer.  They are my all favorite lettuces.

I used to love making this Baby Gem with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette Salad.  It is quite simply my favorite salad.  It was from a recipe I found in Good Food magazine a long time ago. Delicious.

 

But then I am a salad lover full stop and have many favourites.

One thing I love about this one is the pumpkin seeds. I used roasted salted. Because I am naughty like that. You can use just plain roasted if you wish.

 

They added just a tiny bit of salty crunch. I think if a salad is going to be your main meal for the day, you deserve a bit of salty crunch.

And these have to be much better for you than croutons!  So there!

 

The dressing for this salad is a zesty lime vinaigrette.  Its just fresh lime juice, olive oil and seasoning.

Simple. Don't be tempted to use those little squeeze bottles of lime juice.  You wouldn't get that same fresh zip that you get from using the real deal. I think you could add a bit of the lime zest as well, which would be nice.

Altogether this is a delicious salad with beautiful textures and colors.  The dressing is nice and zesty.  The salad is fresh and tasty.

I love the simplicity of the way the chicken is cooked and handled and I loved the nutty crunch of the pumpkin seeds.  The richness of the avocado, the sweetness of the tomatoes.  I could not improve upon it if I tried.

 In short, I quite simply love this salad and I hope that you will too!
 

Chicken, Avocado & Tomato Salad

Yield: 1

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinTotal time: 15 Min

This easy and delicious salad boasts a tangy lime vinaigrette dressing, along with creamy slices of avocado, sweet sun dried tomatoes, crisp pumpkin seeds and perfectly cooked chicken.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• the juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 TBS light olive oil
• fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced in half horizontally

For the dressing:

• the juice of one lime
• 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste

For the salad:

• a large handful of mixed salad leaves
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
• 8 sun dried tomato halves
• 1 heaped TBS pumpkin seeds

Instructions

1. Measure the lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper into a dish along with the garlic.  Add the chicken pieces and turn them to coat in the marinade.  Set them aside to marinate for about 30 minutes, giving them a swish every now and then.
2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Add the chicken breasts and cook for about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown.  Remove from the heat, cut into slices and then return to the pan and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes until no longer pink and nicely glazed. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
3. While they are cooling place the sundried tomatoes into a jar and cover with boiling water. Leave to sit for 5 minutes and then drain completely and pat dry.
4. Whisk together the ingredients for your dressing.
5. Put the salad leaves, avocado and sundried tomatoes into a bowl.  Toss with about half of the dressing.  Then place onto a chilled dinner plate. 
6. Top with the sliced cooked chicken and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.  
7. Drizzle with some of the remaining dressing and serve.  Save the rest to use as desired.

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