Sometimes we want a supper that is easy & light – but still satisfying. And this healthy chicken salad hits the spot – high in flavour, protein & vegetables, but low in fat. We play around with the salad ingredients, depending on our mood. But this particular combination is our go-to – rich from the chicken & avocado, sweet from the corn, and tangy from the tomatoes & the yoghurt dressing. Leaves & seeds add extra texture and health attributes, too
This dish involves a little more effort than some of our Simple Suppers, but is still super simple and quick – you really just need to chop and stir. It can be ready in about 20 minutes, or you can prep most of it ahead, as we did today – it then takes just a couple of minutes to assemble when you are ready.
We like roasted chicken breast in this salad as it is so lean. But if you prefer, you can use roasted thighs, drumsticks or chicken pieces instead, which will also reduce cost – breast can be expensive. That said, you get more meat per portion from a boneless breast than many other cuts, and one large one is easily enough in this dish for two people, especially if you add plenty of avocado for richness. Today we used two breasts for three portions, but still had enough meat left for a sandwich or other dish.
In the dressing for our healthy chicken salad, we use a good quality 0% fat Greek yoghurt. And today we served it on some mixed leaves, and topped with a seed mix, to up our servings of plants and add texture. But these are optional – the salad is good as it is, with perhaps a few lettuce leaves on this side, or a crusty roll.
We use pre-roasted chicken for ease. Shop around for a good deal on this, you can find it quite inexpensively. Remove the skin from the chicken (you can buy skinless, but it tends to be more expensive). Also remove any obvious fat or parts of the chicken that look sinewy or hard.
Cut the chicken into slices, then chop into bite-sized cubes.
Jake sticks his nose in
Removing the skin makes the chicken leaner. We also think chicken is much nicer without its skin in a cold salad.
Now prepare the tomatoes. Remove any stalks, cut in half, and remove the stem bed and any tough white core. Today our tomatoes were medium-small, so we cut them into four – you want to chop them bite size, like the chicken.
Dry them off a little on some kitchen paper, but you don’t need to remove all the seeds.
Drain the sweetcorn, then dry on some kitchen paper and add to a bowl with the chopped tomatoes.
Juice one lime before preparing the avocado. Once cut, avocado can discolour really quickly in the air – coating it with a little acid, in this case lime juice, will stop this happening.
A neat tip is to roll the lime quite firmly on the board before juicing – roll it back and forth a few times, pressing down hard, to soften it. This will make it easier to extract all of the juice. This tip works with all types of citrus, but is particularly useful for limes, which can be very firm and therefore tricky to juice fully.
Jake sticks his nose in
You could use lemon instead in this dish. But there is something about lime that goes particularly well with avocado.
To dice the avocado, first cut it in half, working your knife around the large central stone. Twist the avocado to remove the halves from the stone.
Jake sticks his nose in
Properly ripe avocados are much easier to work with, and of course much nicer to eat! Choose ones called ‘ripe & ready’. But if you can, still feel the avocados very gently before choosing. Ones that feel slightly soft, especially at the pointed stem end, are more likely to be ripe. We find most unripe avocados are quite difficult to ripen at home. You can try ripening them in a plastic bag with a banana, which speeds up the process, but even then we find it a bit hit and miss, so we buy ripe wherever possible.
You can remove the stone by digging it out with a dessert spoon – easy to do with a really ripe avocado, though you still tend to get some mushing and waste of the flesh. But we use the knife trick instead. To do this, get a chef’s knife and slam it hard into the stone, so it lodges in the centre. Now pull the knife out firmly – the stone should come away with it, especially if the avocado is nice and ripe. This gives a cleaner result (and is also quite fun to do!)
Jake sticks his nose in
Some avocados have a soft stone which will shatter if you try the knife trick. This doesn’t happen often, but it can happen. If it does, remove what you can of the split stone, and take the rest out with a spoon.
Slice the avocado – this is much easier if you keep the skin on, and slice from the skin side. Now cut each slice gently into cubes from the flesh side, until the knife just touches the skin. This creates a ‘fan’ of cubes, as below. Work quickly, so the flesh doesn’t start to discolour.
You can now peel the avocado cubes from the skin, and into the bowl with the tomatoes and sweetcorn. Sprinkle with a little of the lime juice, keeping some back for the dressing, and stir well to combine – really coat the avocado in the juice. Season with black pepper, but don’t add salt at this stage (it may bring out too much juice and make your reserved salad vegetables soggy).
Now make the dressing. Today we wanted to keep this dish low fat, so we used 0% fat Greek yoghurt. To be honest, we find this an excellent product – a good quality one will be creamy and rich, and we miss the fat so little we tend to use it for all cold dishes that call for yoghurt. In fact, we often use it to replace crème fraiche or mayonnaise, too. But you can use any thick yoghurt you like.
If you want a richer dressing, and low fat isn’t a priority, you can also add mayo or crème fraiche if you prefer. We wouldn’t suggest replacing the yoghurt entirely – all mayonnaise or all cream will make the salad very cloying to eat – but about a half-and-half mix can be very tasty.
Add a very small amount of mustard – start with about half a teaspoon. Today we used Dijon, which is quite strong. Stir to combine. Taste and add more if liked. (Don’t add mustard, or add even less, if you add mayonnaise however – there is already mustard flavour within this).
Now season with salt & black pepper, and add a little hot sauce, if liked. We prefer green Tabasco in this dressing. Add a little lime juice, then stir and taste. Adjust with any of the flavourings until liked – you ideally want the dressing to have a little sharpness & heat, but to still feel rich and creamy. If you feel you have added to much seasoning, juice or mustard, just add more yoghurt until you are happy.
The mise en place for your healthy chicken salad is ready!
All three elements can be kept in the fridge, covered, until you are ready to serve. They will keep happily for several hours, up to about half a day, but don’t leave much longer or overnight – the salad vegetables may become wet.
Remember to get everything out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you serve – this salad is much nicer at room temperature or very slightly chilled, but not fridge cold. Then, a few minutes before you wish to eat, finish the assembly for your healthy chicken salad.
Put some salad leaves in a large serving bowl. Give the dressing a good stir, and taste to check the flavours – season again if needed.
Today we used a baby leaf mix, with lettuce and spinach, but any salad you like will work. You could, for example, use chopped little gem for crunch instead. We particularly liked the combination of the baby spinach with the chicken in this salad today, so you could also use this alone, or try pea shoots or watercress. We don’t recommend rocket, however, as it is bit too strong for the delicacy of the chicken mix flavours.
Add some dressing to the chicken and stir to combine. Don’t add too much – you want the chicken nicely coated but not wet.
Now add the salad vegetables, and stir again, thoroughly but gently – be careful not to mash the avocado. Add a little more dressing if needed, but again take care that it doesn’t ‘flood’ the salad or you will lose the individual flavours of the chicken and vegetables.
Top the salad leaves with the chicken mix, then add a few more leaves to the edge if you wish – this just improves the presentation!
Season with a little salt, and top with some ripped basil. This adds a nice fragrance to the dish, but don’t add too much or it will take over. Top with some mixed seeds, if using. We don’t always add these, but we do really like the crunch they give. You could use a few nuts or croutons to add a similar effect if you prefer, but the seeds really do work well.
Jake sticks his nose in
Other herbs can also work nicely in this salad instead of basil. Tarragon is lovely, if you like it, but use in moderation as it is strong. We suggest adding it to the dressing, rather than scattering over. Chives work well, too.
You are now ready to serve your healthy chicken salad, making sure each portion gets a good distribution of each key element.
Enjoy!
