Kale's got the Beets Salad, featuring baked Blackened Chicken

Happy November, y'all!

Today's post is a recipe inspired by a salad I had at a restaurant a few weekends ago. My friend, H, and I went up to Port Gamble and Poulsbo for a day trip to the other side of the Sound. Before we decided to head back to our side of the pond, we stopped off at a restaurant on the docks, named Doc! H had lobster mac and cheese, which looked divine, while I had a gorgeous Blackened Chicken Kale Salad.

This salad it not identical by any means but there are elements of the salad I've wanted to attempt for sometime. The first task was figuring out how to blacken chicken without using a cast iron skillet. Some of you maybe surprised to learn, I don't own one. This was a surprising 4 minute google search. While researching, I found an easy 8 ingredient rub where I added and subtracted seasonings to what I had on hand.

My second tackle was to bake beets. For those unaccustomed to beet preparation, wash, wrap in tin foil and place in the oven at 400* for an hour. Miracle beets! Easy as can be! And peel-able.

Third tackle, I decided to make "faux feta". What I was thinking? I'll let you know when I figure it out because it's still hazy to me. This vegan cheese does take time to prep. Ideally this is made the night before your salad is to be consumed. It's mainly due to the fact that it needs to be frozen and cut into blocks. Good news: It can keep for a month in the freezer! I got the recipe from the vegan blog: Including Cake.

Fourth tackle! Pow! The dressing. I went rogue. No recipe, no inspiration, all feeling. What do I want with this salad? Sweet and freshness. A concoction made of lemon, honey and apple cider vin to go right on top of my fifth and final tackle... Kale.

Kale is a bitter lettuce. I've never had sweet kale before. Turns out, it's sweeter when massaged. Yep, you read that right. Like a baby at night trying to fall sleep, you've got to rub it to sooth it. I put about a 1/2 tsp of olive oil on my hands and then rub the leaves. No longer bitter!

This salad is wonderful for fall. I think the beets tie the whole mix together and help bring out the spices in the blackened chicken. It's fun to prepare and even more fun to consume.

Happy rainy season, mes amies!

Alli

P.S. Attempting different logo stamps on my images. What do you think? I like the small one to the side.

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Print Recipe

Kale's got the Beets Salad

Rubbed kale, vegan feta, walnuts, savory baked beets and over broiled blackened chicken. Tossed together with a honey lemon apple vin to bring joy to the world.

Recipe by: The Salad Trip

Blackened Chicken Ingredients: 

- 1 Chicken Breast
- 1/2 tsp Paprika
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, crushed
- 1/4 tsp Cumin
- 1/4 tsp Oregano
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

Salad Ingredients: 

- 1 Cup Kale
- 1/2 Cup Beets, baked and cooled
- 1 -2 Tbs Walnuts, chopped
- 1/4 Cup Feta, (Vegan Recipe by: Including Cake)

Honey Lemon Apply Cider Vin Ingredients: 

- 1 Tbs Honey
- 1 Tbs Lemon Juice
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Instructions:

Prep oven to broil.

Mix chicken seasoning together in a small bowl. Toss together.

Line baking tray with tin foil. Place raw chicken on tray and cover front and back with seasoning until chicken is coated. Place in oven for 5 minutes. Pull out of oven, flip chicken. Place in oven for another 5 minutes.

Turn oven for 350* and keep chicken in oven for another 15 minutes until fully cooked through. Remove and allow to cool.

In your serving dish, add rubbed down kale, beets, feta and sprinkle walnuts. Add chicken.

Shake dressing ingredients together. Dress salad around the chicken.

Take a picture, post to instagram, #thesaladtrip and enjoy!

Details:

Prep time: 15 min  Cook time: 25 mins  Total time: 40 mins  Yield: 1 Servings (2 if you're really nice)

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