Mandarin Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

You might know that I love salads. Love them. Thank goodness my husband does too so.... we religiously have salad night every Friday. I look forward to this night. That might seem weird but it is true. I love when the weather warms up and there is lots of yummy fruits and veggies available and that means delicious salads will be created. This salad is fresh and crisp! I found a recipe and tweaked it a bit and it is perfect. The dressing really adds tons of flavor. Add toasted and buttered ciabatta or french bread and dinner is served!

 

 

 

Ingredients: (this made 2 adult size dinner salads)

 

1/2-1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 thinly sliced medium red onion (optional, my husband isn't a huge fan of raw onion)

1 large avocado, cubed

4-6 pieces of turkey bacon, cooked and chopped

1 large can Mandarin oranges, drained

4 chicken breast tenders or 2 chicken breasts, thawed

salt

pepper

garlic granules

 

Dressing:

1/3 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
A few turns of freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon spicy mustard
1 green onion, chopped

1/4 cup fat free Italian dressing

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

 

1. Put your lettuce on your plates. As much as you like. We like big salads for dinner so we put a good amount of lettuce on our plates. Right on top add your onion, avocado, turkey bacon and oranges. Next it is time to cook your chicken.

2. Season your chicken with salt, pepper and garlic granules. Cook in a skillet or on the grill until done. Let cool for a few minutes so when your cut into it, the chicken will still be juicy. Slice and top your salad with the chicken.

3. Ok, dressing time. This is really easy and quick because you toss it all in the blender! Combine vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard in your blender. Blend. While the blender is running, add the green onion. Continue running the blender and add the Italian dressing in a steady stream until it is fully incorporated into the dressing. Pour into a serving container and stir in your poppy seeds. Top each salad with as much dressing as you like.

Enjoy a yummy spring salad.

 

adapted from our best bites