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Made it for girls’ night and have been craving it since! Everything went well together and the dressing was creamy but fresh! Yum
Natalya
Stating the obvious: It’s winter.
It’s very, very, very much winter. Like, I’m sitting here looking outside at the snow-covered ground and feeling okay about it because it’s actually a “really nice day” here in Minnesota – we might even get up to 25 degrees. I KNOW, RIGHT? We’re that far gone. Winter has messed with our reasoning abilities.
But good news – the cure is coming at you today in the form of a big bowl of *spa salad* loaded with chickpeas, spinach, pomegranates, Cara Cara oranges (and specifically those if you can find them because they are ON POINT), avocado, thinly sliced shallots, a fistful of herbs, a drizzle of light creamy dressing, and grilled lemon chicken.
If it’s wrong to want this for a mid-morning snack, I don’t want to be right.
RALLY THE TROOPS! Let’s do this.
Are these pink/orange Cara Cara oranges not the most gorgeous food you’ve ever laid eyes on? Bonus – they are also nature’s candy.
Katy (our new shoot assistant – uhhhh yeah, this just in – WE HAVE A SHOOT ASSISTANT 🙏) peeled the oranges for this salad the day before our photo shoot, and then I had to text her the next morning and ask her to stop at the store again because, um, Katy? yeah, about the Cara Cara oranges that you peeled. I ate all them all.
Oh my sweet goodness, they are heavenly.
Sometimes these elusive oranges might require you to drive to a different grocery store, which is something that you are totally rejecting right now in your mind and yes, okay, I get it. I’m the same way 99 times out of 100. But guys, think about this. We may not make it to a real spa anytime in the near future and this food version of spa-dom (complete with CC oranges) needs to happen. This is that other ONE TIME out of 100 that I’ll tell you to go the extra mile for that second grocery store.
Plus, beyond the taste, I’m pretty sure the name “Cara Cara oranges” in and of itself earns you full-blown Diva Status.
Spa salad, tho? Seriously. It doesn’t even matter what that really means because the only thing you need to know about it is fork -> mouth -> fork -> mouth -> repeat.
Onwards, spa queen.
Winter Spa Salad with Lemon Chicken
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Winter Spa Salad with Lemon Chicken! Loaded with chickpeas, spinach, pomegranates, Cara Cara oranges, avocado, shallots, herbs, dressing, and lemon chicken.
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cara cara oranges, peeled and cut into pieces
- 1 avocado, cut into slices
- 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
- 2 cups spinach, torn or cut into small pieces
- 1 14-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- a handful of chopped fresh herbs like parsley or mint
For the Chicken Marinade:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- juice of one half of a lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
- 1–2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, or other grainy mustard
- salt, pepper, and/or honey to taste
Instructions
- Whisk marinade ingredients together. Place in a bowl with the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (while prepping other stuff) or as long as 2 hours.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together.
- Heat the oil in a pan or pre-heat a griddle. Discard extra marinade from chicken and grill the chicken pieces until cooked through. Let stand for a few minutes to cool before cutting.
- Toss all other salad ingredients, including chicken, together with the dressing! Season with additional salt and pepper and maybe a drizzle of good olive oil. Easy peasy.
Notes
If going sugar free is important to you, make sure to look for a sugar-free mustard.
The dressing, especially if you use the Greek yogurt, can be really tangy. You can offset this by using less vinegar or mustard or adding more sweetness with honey to taste.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: winter salad, salad with chicken, lemon chicken
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our yummy spinach recipes page. Check it out!
Thank you for this amazing recipe. I have been making this salad for a couple of years and I love it.
I just made the salad and everyone loved it. Although I’d like to make it again for someone that doesn’t eat mayo or yogurt. Any alternative dressing you’d suggest?
Sour cream would be good!
Stating the obvious: it’s very winter. The kind of winter where 25 degrees feels like a gift and you catch yourself calling it a “nice day” with a straight face. Minnesota winter has officially lowered our standards and our sanity.
This was amazing whole family loved this dish, for a something different healthy and simple.
6 , 10 and 14 year old loved it as well.
I am so obsessed with eating seasonally and I think autumn gets all the attention here in the US in that regard. I have been trying to find some easy and healthy winter seasonal lunches and tried this recipe this week. This is wonderful! I love it so much! Your seasonal produce selections in this combination are on point. I could see what a good concept your recipe is before I even tried it! I don’t even really like pomegranate arils because the seeds are sometimes too hard, but I tried it anyways and I found that they added such a nice pop of color, sweetness, and texture, and that the seeds weren’t as noticeable when eaten with everything else. I think they were the best choice! An underrated seasonal ingredient. This recipe is in my annual rotation now. I love that after cooking the chicken the first day you can easily just assemble leftovers for salads on the following days.
I also feel your name for this salad is fitting. It feels like a healthy, relaxing, emotionally restorative dish with all the colors, flavors, and how healthy it is. Felt like a little retreat!
Thanks for this recipe!
I especially love this recipe, I’m going to try it right away. Thanks for sharing.
Yummmmm!!! I made this today for my “home spa day” and it was fabulous. Thank you so much!!!
This salad is everything we need to get us to Spring!!! I made it for my meal prep clients today and it is just so beautiful and delicious! That dressing (with Greek yogurt and honey) is AMAZING!! I came home from work to make it for myself. Thank you thank you!
First off, this was beautiful. Second it tasted just as blissful as it looked. Perfect for a drab Tuesday in January. I actually had some cooked chicken ready to be cut so I used that and had already broken down a pomegranate the day before so it was quicker and easier. I’m thinking I’ll do Mayo instead of the Greek yoghurt I had next time for the dressing. The dressing with the champagne vinegar needs creamy from Mayo and less tart from Greek yoghurt in my opinion. Still I gobbled it right up! Next time I absolutely will marinade and cook my own chicken as I’m sure that imparts some fantastic flavors too. I used both mint and parsley. Thanks for getting me to spruce up my salad…been hitting a wall lately with them.
This was awesome! Don’t skip on the pomegranate arils. I used ruby grapefruit instead of cara cara bc that’s what I had. Everything was so good!
This has become one of my favorite winter salads. I love the flavors! Thank you for the great recipe.
Sad seeing bloggers use your recipe and not give you credit on their websites.
https://theivorylane.com/2021/04/08/spring-salad-with-lemon-chicken.html
Loved the salad! I would like to know where you found the lovely pottery you served it in….
Hi Lindsay,
Lovely meeting you here. This Salad looks so Fresh, Light & yet look so filling… definitely going to try it with our local South African oranges as the Cara Cara orange is unavailable here. Thanks for sharing.
If I was Katy I’d have quit. Peel your own oranges
Really good recipe! I forgot the spinach but I didn’t miss it, used extra mint instead. Subbed dried cranberries for the pomegranate aerils because I couldn’t find them and added pistachios for crunch.
Also subbed red wine vinegar for champagne vinegar because that’s what I had on hand. The cara cara orange might sound like a strange addition but they were absolutely amazing in the salad and I HIGHLY recommend getting them even though they’re more expensive than regular oranges.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this, Cherie!
Thanks for sharing this amazing aritcle. it’s really good one information. Thanks for giving this article.
A perfect salad Lindsay, you done a great job. Thank you so much
This looks so yummy and healthy!
Oh my, I need this salad in my life, it looks so good as do those Cara Cara oranges which I’ve never heard of as I’m in the UK but they look amazing!
Enjoy!
Love all of the ingredients in this salad, but especially I love the name! 🙂
This was so delicious!!!
love so many of your recipes, when I walked in to my grocery store today and Cara Cara oranges were the first things I saw, I remembered seeing this….the chicken is marinating, can’t wait!
OMG!! This seems to me amazing! The today I’ll try it. Thanks lindsay for sharing a value return presentation.
Nice lemon chicken recipe. Great taste.
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