After a long day at work, I try to stick to simple but tasty dinners that won’t take me hours to make. I came home the other day and realized that I only had one chicken breast to feed three people. I didn’t want to make an extra stop at the grocery store, so my solution? Put it in a salad where I could “sprinkle” in the chicken as more of a protein add-in rather than having the chicken be the main star of the meal. I decided to add quinoa to make the salad a bit more robust, and sprinkled some cheese and flax seeds for more texture and taste. I topped it off with a homemade lemon vinaigrette, and it turned out to be both delicious and healthy!
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry quinoa
- 1 chicken breast
- 1 tsp Lawry’s seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 cups mixed kale, baby kale, arugula, spinach, radicchio and chard
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 tbsp flax seeds
Homemade Lemon Vinaigrette
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used sweet Meyer lemons)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
Instructions
1. Combine 1 cup water with dry quinoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for approx. 15 mins, stirring lightly after approx. 7 mins.
2. Season chicken breast with Lawry’s seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion powder. Heat skillet with olive oil on high heat. Sear chicken breast for 1 min on each side, then reduce heat to low, cover skillet and let simmer for 10 mins. Once finished, chop in to small pieces.
3. In a large bowl, combine salad greens, chicken and quinoa. To finish, sprinkle fresh Parmesan cheese, flax seeds and lemon vinaigrette.
Lemon Vinaigrette
1. In a small bowl, squeeze fresh lemon lemon juice. Be sure to remove all seeds.
2. Add olive oil, honey, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Whisk together until completely mixed.
Enjoy!
xx.
Adapted from Jo Cooks
