It's the official posting day for October's installment of Secret Recipe Club. Yay!
(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.
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.
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.
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?)
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Grilled Chicken Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
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
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
- Lightly oil the grates of an outdoor gas grill and preheat to high. (Or preheat a lightly oiled grill pan over high heat)
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Kristi Rimkus says
I just love your pictures. You really have an eye for food styling. The recipes sounds wonderful too. :)
Eliot says
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!)
Desi says
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 :)
bhavani/ameanderingmango says
Looks fresh and delicious - love the combination of savoury, spicy and sweet!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
This salad looks great! I'm especially curious about that dressing!
Chocolate Shavings says
It looks delicious Isabelle!
Jey @ The Jey of Cooking says
This looks awesome! Excited to try it soon.
Choosy Beggar Tina says
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!
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes says
This would taste like it had a bit of California sunshine in it.
Deeba Rajpal (@vindee) says
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!
susie says
I am bookmarking this one for dinner! It looks spectacular!
Trisha says
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!
Cara says
What a gorgeous salad - and that dressing sounds fantastic!
Ilke says
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!
Jane Bonacci - The Heritage Cook says
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!
★★★★★
sarah, simply cooked says
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.
Katherine Martinelli says
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!
★★★★★
The Cilantropist says
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.
Angie @ Bigbearswife says
look at how beautiful that dressing is! I love it
sara says
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! :)
Grubarazzi (@Grubarazzi) says
that dressing sounds amazing!
Tessa says
This sounds awesome! I love bright and fresh dishes like this. Yum!
CookaholicWife says
Oh wow does that look good!
Anne-Marie @ This Mama Cooks! says
Gorgeous and oh so healthy! The dressing is like summer in a bottle, too.
Amber | Bluebonnets & Brownies says
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!
Double Dipped Life says
I love the sound of this dressing! Yum!
Lisa~~ says
Your salad sounds wonderful and I can see why the dressing is star of the salad.
Lisa~~
[email protected] says
This dressing looks fantastic! Good choice for SRC.
Winnie says
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.