• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crumb: A Food Blog logo

  • Home
  • About Crumb
    • About Isabelle
    • Press, Awards and Contributions
    • Privacy Policy
  • About the Recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • About Crumb
  • About Isabelle
  • Privacy Policy
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » salad » Secret Recipe Club: Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing

    Secret Recipe Club: Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing

    Oct 10, 2011 · 29 Comments

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    It's the official posting day for October's installment of Secret Recipe Club. Yay!

    Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing

    (Actually, it's just official posting day for my group... believe it or not, the project is so popular that there are now four groups and over 200 participating bloggers. Pretty impressive, especially if you consider the very first SRC reveal date was only six months ago, and had a whopping total of 19 participants!)

    My secret blogger assignment for this month is Melissa from A Fit and Spicy Life.

    As the name might suggest, Melissa is more than a food blogger - she blogs about fitness, wine, travel and restaurants, too.  She has an extensive collection of recipes on her blog, blending her own original creations with recipes adapted from other sources like Cooking Light, Food Network and Martha Stewart.

    While poking around her recipe index, I kept wandering back to an entry for a Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing, which was originally posted on the Cooking Light website.

    Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing

    Yes, I know I just posted a grilled chicken salad recipe a few weeks ago, but trust me... aside from the fact that both salads involve slices of grilled chicken breast on a bed of salad greens, they are completely different.

    (And besides, I am a firm believer that you can never have too many meal-worthy salads in your arsenal. Despite what Homer Simpson once said, you can make friends with salad.)

    As always, I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit my tastes. First, I added a little honey to the dressing, because the pineapple I got wasn't as sweet as I'd have liked. I also omitted the jicama because it's impossible to find without travelling halfway across town, substituted yellow peppers instead of red because I thought they looked prettier, and used arugula instead of spinach because I thought the peppery bite would work better with the other flavours.

    Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing

    Once I'd finished taking photos, I realised my finished salad still needed a little je-ne-sais-quoi, so I ended up adding slices of cucumber and avocado to the mix. Call me Goldilocks, but after those two final tweaks, it was just right.

    I'm debating maybe adding sliced radishes or daikon next time around, but we'll save that for another day. (What can I say?  I like my salads with lots of stuff in them.)

    Final verdict? This is a fabulous recipe and I'm ever so glad Melissa blogged about it. 

    It's refreshing and light, cooks up super-fast, and is packed with a ton of flavour. I feel like this is the kind of thing you'd find on the menu of a fancy California-style eatery that specializes in healthy yet delicious dishes, except you don't have to jump on a plane to California or pay a small fortune for this beautiful bowl of greens.

    Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing

    Best of all, the addition of the chicken also means this salad is substantial enough to have as a meal if you round it out with a little bread and a dessert (and really, who doesn't love a meal that leaves you with enough room for dessert?)

    //

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

    Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing


    ★★★★★

    5 from 2 reviews

    • Author: Adapted from Cooking Light
    • Total Time: 25 mins
    • Yield: 4 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    There's a lot to love about this colourful summertime salad, but the star of the show is definitely the sweet-and-spicy pineapple dressing. Try it drizzled onto grilled shrimp or pork for a different (yet equally delicious) variation.


    Ingredients

    Scale

    Grilled Chicken

    • 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts
    • 1 tsp chili powder
    • ½ tsp salt
    • ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper

    Dressing

    • ¾ cup chopped fresh pineapple, cut into 1" cubes
    • 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
    • 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
    • 1 tbsp honey
    • 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
    • ½ jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • ¼ cup olive oil

    Salad Mix

    • 8 cups baby salad greens
    • ¾ cup chopped fresh pineapple
    • ⅔ cup thinly sliced yellow or red bell pepper
    • ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
    • ½ cup thinly sliced English cucumber
    • 1 small firm-ripe avocado, pitted and cut into chunks

    Instructions

    1. Lightly oil the grates of an outdoor gas grill and preheat to high. (Or preheat a lightly oiled grill pan over high heat)
    2. While the grill heats, lay the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap, and pound to an even ½" thickness. Sprinkle evenly on both sides with chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook on preheated grill for 3 minutes on each side or until juices run clear and centre is no longer pink. Transfer to a cutting board, and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting into thin slices. Set aside to cool completely.
    3. Next, prepare the dressing. In a blender or food processor, combine pineapple, cilantro, orange juice, honey, vinegar, jalapeno and garlic. Process until smooth. With the blender still running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a thin stream, and process until emulsified and smooth.
    4. To assemble the salads, toss the salad greens, peppers, red onion and cucumbers with ¾ cup dressing until evenly coated. Divide salad evenly among 4 plates, then top each one with an equal amount of sliced chicken and avocado. Drizzle with remaining dressing, then serve immediately.
    • Prep Time: 10 mins
    • Cook Time: 15 mins

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @izzbell on Instagram

    « Love Me Tender: Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins
    Fall Back: Apple Cake with Browned Butter Icing »
    6 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Email
    • Yummly

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kristi Rimkus says

      October 23, 2011 at 9:32 pm

      I just love your pictures. You really have an eye for food styling. The recipes sounds wonderful too. :)

      Reply
    2. Eliot says

      October 18, 2011 at 9:57 pm

      Love SRC and this is a great post! What a delicious sounding recipe. (Luckily, I'm in Group C and I have another week before I post!)

      Reply
    3. Desi says

      October 18, 2011 at 11:26 am

      Man your photos make a simple dressing look so captivating! I love the color of that dressing... that bright green! I bet it tasted amazing too :)

      Reply
    4. bhavani/ameanderingmango says

      October 17, 2011 at 9:32 pm

      Looks fresh and delicious - love the combination of savoury, spicy and sweet!

      Reply
    5. Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says

      October 17, 2011 at 4:21 pm

      This salad looks great! I'm especially curious about that dressing!

      Reply
    6. Chocolate Shavings says

      October 16, 2011 at 5:44 pm

      It looks delicious Isabelle!

      Reply
    7. Jey @ The Jey of Cooking says

      October 16, 2011 at 3:09 pm

      This looks awesome! Excited to try it soon.

      Reply
    8. Choosy Beggar Tina says

      October 15, 2011 at 1:48 pm

      I agree with you...there is never such a thing as too many meal sized salads! You take such gorgeous pictures and everything looks delicious, but I'm particularly smitten with that vibrant green dressing. That looks like the kind of dressing to use on salad, as a marinade or, you know, drizzled over everything. Man, now *I* want to join the Secret Recipe Club!

      Reply
    9. Barbara @ Barbara Bakes says

      October 15, 2011 at 9:41 am

      This would taste like it had a bit of California sunshine in it.

      Reply
    10. Deeba Rajpal (@vindee) says

      October 13, 2011 at 8:15 am

      Its wonderful to find such exciting stuff through the SRC! This is a great pick and you tempt me to try it soo. YUM YUM....it's mouthwatering good!

      Reply
    11. susie says

      October 11, 2011 at 9:14 am

      I am bookmarking this one for dinner! It looks spectacular!

      Reply
    12. Trisha says

      October 10, 2011 at 11:41 pm

      This is a fabulous looking salad meal, i can't wait to try it out! This is my first time here and I can't wait to see the rest of u'r blog!

      Reply
    13. Cara says

      October 10, 2011 at 10:45 pm

      What a gorgeous salad - and that dressing sounds fantastic!

      Reply
    14. Ilke says

      October 10, 2011 at 9:36 pm

      I don't mind having lots of stuff in my salad as well. Otherwise I feel like a grazing cow! Just green! I love the colors. You did great with this. The dressing looks so vibrant!

      Reply
    15. Jane Bonacci - The Heritage Cook says

      October 10, 2011 at 9:25 pm

      The more goodies in my salads, the better. Wonderful choice for SRC. I just happen to have a pineapple needing a project, and I think I just found it, LOL!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    16. sarah, simply cooked says

      October 10, 2011 at 6:21 pm

      A salad for dinner is my favourite. I think pineapple and cilantro would make a great dressing combination. I already knew Mellissa because she is in my foodie book club, the Kitchen Reader. She always has delicious, healthy recipes to share.

      Reply
    17. Katherine Martinelli says

      October 10, 2011 at 5:41 pm

      This sounds right up my alley! I love the sound of a pineapple dressing. I also put tons of stuff in my salads :-) Your blog is beautiful! So glad to have found it through SRC!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    18. The Cilantropist says

      October 10, 2011 at 2:46 pm

      I agree completely with you - I am always putting so many things in my salads that sometimes the actual lettuce is overrun by everything else! ;) And it is funny, when I saw spicy pineapple dressing I was expecting something yellow; so surprising that it is green! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I have never tried anything like it before.

      Reply
    19. Angie @ Bigbearswife says

      October 10, 2011 at 2:10 pm

      look at how beautiful that dressing is! I love it

      Reply
    20. sara says

      October 10, 2011 at 1:35 pm

      Ooooh, love this recipe! I definitely need to try it...I love making salad the "main dish" by adding a protein, and this one looks like it is full of lots of amazing flavors! :)

      Reply
    21. Grubarazzi (@Grubarazzi) says

      October 10, 2011 at 1:21 pm

      that dressing sounds amazing!

      Reply
    22. Tessa says

      October 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm

      This sounds awesome! I love bright and fresh dishes like this. Yum!

      Reply
    23. CookaholicWife says

      October 10, 2011 at 12:21 pm

      Oh wow does that look good!

      Reply
    24. Anne-Marie @ This Mama Cooks! says

      October 10, 2011 at 11:40 am

      Gorgeous and oh so healthy! The dressing is like summer in a bottle, too.

      Reply
    25. Amber | Bluebonnets & Brownies says

      October 10, 2011 at 11:36 am

      I'm pretty sure my husband would be all over this recipe, he loves anything with pineapple in it, especially savory dishes. The dressing looks fabulous!

      Reply
    26. Double Dipped Life says

      October 10, 2011 at 11:32 am

      I love the sound of this dressing! Yum!

      Reply
    27. Lisa~~ says

      October 10, 2011 at 10:21 am

      Your salad sounds wonderful and I can see why the dressing is star of the salad.

      Lisa~~

      Reply
    28. [email protected] says

      October 10, 2011 at 8:14 am

      This dressing looks fantastic! Good choice for SRC.

      Reply
    29. Winnie says

      October 10, 2011 at 7:45 am

      I like my salads with a lot of stuff in them, too! Lovely photos and this looks great...I am totally intrigued by that dressing and will have to try it.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    Hello! I'm Isabelle, and this is my blog. I'm a 40-something coffee-chugging, booty-shaking, bargain-shopping, trucker-swearing self-taught cook with a major addiction to vintage cookbooks. Come for the recipes, stay for the terrible puns! Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Looking for Something?...

    Archives

    Categories

    All images and content Copyright © 2023 Isabelle Boucher | Crumb: A Food Blog · Privacy Policy