Chopped Chicken Salad

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A crisp Mediterranean-inspired salad with lemon chicken, tarragon tahini dressing, and spiced chickpeas. Fresh, crunchy, salty, spicy, and incredibly delicious — this salad is how I want to eat every day.

A few years ago, I lost a lot of weight. About 30 pounds — a toddler. I have since gained a lot of it back. It isn’t a great place to be or feel great, but I am really afraid to go back to life when losing weight was my #1 priority. All day I obsessed about food.

Eating clean was hard. It felt like my efforts were never good enough. My interpretation was (and a completely incorrect one), why bother? If I don’t eat perfectly all the time, what’s the point?

Turns out, I’m not alone on this one. My friend Andie wrote an entire book about this very issue. I can’t say enough good things about Eating in the Middle: A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook. One of the things that Andie writes about is eating a salad every single day. Not a boring salad, but one with life and interest and vibrancy. Salads are filling and you can pack a lot of flavors into every bite. I have been following her advice and, let me say, I feel better and enjoy my ritual of eating a salad for lunch. Every day. (Well, almost every day.)

In particular, this salad is how I want to eat every day. Fresh, crunchy, salty, spicy, and incredibly delicious. My kids ate this (did you read that – THEY ATE IT.) wrapped in whole wheat pitas. I added some chicken, but otherwise made this recipe exactly as written and I’ve made it again and again.

Ingredients //

Dressing:

• 3 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp tarragon, finely minced
• salt

Lemon Chicken:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• zest from one lemon
• juice from lemon
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried mint
• salt and pepper

Spiced Chickpeas:

• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tsp olive oil

Salad:

• 2 romaine hearts, chopped
• 1 English cucumber, seeded and sliced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
• 3/4 cups crumbled feta cheese

How To // The Steps

Step1 (The Dressing): Whisk together ingredients in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of water to thin out.

Step 2 (The Chicken): Add chicken to a plastic bag. Whisk together oil, zest, juice, garlic, oregano, mint, salt and pepper. Let marinate for 15-20 minutes. Add pieces to a saute pan over MED-HIGH heat. Brown and cook through. Transfer to a plate until ready to eat.

Step 3 (The Chickpeas): Mix together the spices and salt. Pat the chickpeas dry with a paper towel. Put them in a gallon-sized plastic bag with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Seal the bag and shake to coat with oil. Add the spice mixture, seal the bag, and shake to coat with spices.

Heat a non-stick pan with the remaining olive oil over MED-HIGH heat. Add the chickpeas and saute, shaking occasionally until they are brown and crispy.

Step 4 (The Salad): Toss together salad ingredients. Drizzle with dressing, top with chicken and chickpeas.

FAQs //

How To Store Chopped Chicken Salad //

Let the salad cool completely. Transfer it to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to dine once more, take it out of the fridge and let it sit for 20 minutes. Give it a stir to redistribute the dressing and seasoning. You can refresh the flavors by squirting a bit of lemon juice on it.

Other Salad Recipes You Might Like To Try:

• Spring Salad with Roasted Chicken
• Tomato, Basil, and Blue Cheese Salad
• Mediterranean Rice Salad
• Roasted Beet Salad

**Full disclosure, Andie did send me a copy of her book. But she didn’t need to, I had already pre-ordered it and gave my other copy to a friend. 🙂 **