Healthy Cilantro Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad

Good morning, for the PNW!

This salad is super easy to put together as long as you make the chicken in the oven the day before. I tend to do this a lot. I love making the protein portion on Sunday night as a part of my meal prep for the week. My other option is to put it in the oven right after I get home from Monday morning's yoga class.

You're probably asking how I have so much time in the morning to cook chicken. Well, I tend to under estimate on a few things but I know myself and I do take into consideration how big the chicken actually is. If I have two large chicken breasts then I know it'll take about 40 mins at 375*. One large breast may only take 20-25 minutes. Not so bad when you think about what you do in the mornings. Especially when its just throwing something in the oven.

Clean up, ah yes - another question. To be 100% honest, I use a disposable pie tin. That's right! I cover it in foil so it's fool proof. The moment the tin is cool, I remove the foil, toss it, cut my chicken, throw it in tupperware and run out the door.

This chicken salad recipe is super simple for someone who needs to throw something together for a healthy lunch. I always add fresh cracked pepper to simple recipes like this one because it's a little addition that gives it a lot of extra flavor. I also didn't really use a dressing for this one! It's a clean mixture of olive oil and lemon juice. As in, I literally squeezed 1/4 of a lemon on top and called it a day.


I am quite an avocado lover and noticed that I added them to this recipe and my previous post's recipe. This won't be a trend but don't be surprised if you see it as an option in the future because my love flames on!

Enjoy!

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Print Recipe

Healthy Cilantro Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad

Warm Chicken Breast served over a bed of romaine lettuce, red cabbage, cilantro and avocado with a lemon olive oil drizzle and cracked pepper.

Recipe by: Allison Tripi

Ingredients:

• 2 Large Chicken Breast
• 1 Avocado
• 1 Cup Red Cabbage
• 3 Cups Romaine Lettuce
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup Cilantro
• 1/2 Lemon
• 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano 
• 1/2 tsp Chili Powder (optional)
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• To Taste Pepper, Cracked

Instructions:

Chicken: 
On a baking sheet, add two large chicken breast. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil to tops.
Sprinkle Garlic powder, Chili powder and Oregano to top.
Put in the oven for 40 minutes at 400* F. (Cook til completely white in the center.)
Allow to cool.
Depending of preference, cut into stripes or cubes.

Salad:
Chop Lettuce and Cabbage into your preferred stripes. Set aside in a large bowl. 
Dice Avocado. Then add it to Lettuce and Cabbage mix. Set Aside.

Finely chop cilantro and add it to a small bowl. Add Olive Oil and fresh squeezed lemon to the cilantro bowl. Stir together to mix.
Add  cilantro/lemon oil to lettuce bowl and toss. Set aside and allow to sit for a few minutes. 
Serve chicken, warm, on top of decided serving size. 

Add optional cracked pepper to taste and Enjoy!

Details:

Prep time: 5 mins   Cook time: 40 mins   Total time: 45 mins   Yield: 4 Servings