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Oh man. So good! Nice and light. I’ve never had wheat berry before but I must say I’m now a fan. I used a lemon vinaigrette and added that to the oil and honey. Turned out great!
AshLey
WHY have I waited this long to make a chicken salad in the Philippines? Sometimes I’m really late to the game. And sometimes is like, all the time.
This salad is my life right now. The textures, the flavors, and the perfect amount of light, sweet honey lemon vinaigrette…
Sigh.
One thing that we struggle with here in the Philippines is cooking. Hot, heated, high temperature cooking. Our oven has a flame in it. A real live fire. IT’S HOT. Plus it’s already one bajillion degrees and one hundred and fifty percent humid all day everyday, so that’s fun.
To add to the drama, we are a microwaveless family (do two people count as a family?), which I really want to enjoy, except that not having a quick way to heat up food usually sets off a chain of events, starting with turning the oven on –> extreme hotnesss –> grouchy-ness –> hair issues –> resorting to cold cereal and milk. The good news in all this is that they have some really yummy cereals at our little Rustan’s grocery store down the road (hi, tropical fruit granola with huge clusters of coconut) and the other good news is that I love cereal. Period.
But cereal cuts a deep wound when I find out that Bjork has been ignoring the delicious man-food that I left in the fridge in little individual containers for his lunches and choosing cereal for lunch instead. What? Individual containers of squash soup with walnuts and apple aren’t man-foody? Whatever.
This is our real life. With a fridge full of food, he eats tropical fruit grocery store granola just to avoid the heat of the kitchen. Hmmph.
Then we get into this horrible, old-married-people cycle where I come home from work and interrogate him about what he ate for lunch and be annoyed that he had a bowl of cereal instead of my individually packaged squash soup with a separate container of walnut and apple toppings. We are those people. Ok, I am that person.
Oh my gosh, you guys. WHY did I wait this long?
I made this chicken salad with grapes and the old-married-people cycle of “what did you eat for lunch” was immediately broken. We both loved it. He made his into a wrap, and then a sandwich, and then two more wraps with extra cheese. I ate mine in a big bowl as a salad. With extra cheese. And by the way, finding feta cheese in the Philippines is like finding pure gold. It’s been a happy week in this house.
If you have access to fresh, clean, crispy greens like baby spinach, toss a handful of it in there, too, will ya? Trust me – it will be delicious. It reminds me of this salad. I miss spinach. <– File that under things you’ll only say once in your life.
The salad? It was cold. It was refreshing. It was chewy and crunchy and sweet. It was filling and it was man-food. Er, at least, as much as feta and honey lemon and grapes in a salad can be man-food. Yeah? Yeah. The best part: it can be kept in the fridge in individual containers for easy eating – NO REHEATING REQUIRED. Saves time, saves sweat, saves … us.
This salad is pretty and delicious and I love it.
Honey Chicken Salad with Grapes and Feta
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
This honey chicken salad with grapes and feta is fresh and simple. Includes chicken, feta, red grapes, wheat berries, and honey lemon dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1 bunch grapes (about 2–3 cups), cut in half
- 1 cup uncooked wheat berries
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey (I use Ames Farm Honey)
- ¼ cup homemade or storebought lemon dressing (I used Brianna’s brand)
- ½ tablespoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- feta cheese and green onions for topping
Instructions
- Bring 2 large pots of water to boil. To one pot, add the raw chicken breasts. Cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes. To the other pot, add wheat berries and cook, uncovered, for about 20-30 minutes.
- While chicken is cooking, chop the grapes in half. Slice a few green onions for topping. Whisk together the olive oil, honey, dressing, vinegar, and water. Keep grapes, green onions, and dressing in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
- Remove chicken from heat and check for doneness (white color throughout). Drain water and allow to cool for several minutes. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken with two forks or your hands. Season shredded chicken with salt and pepper.
- Remove wheat berries from heat and check for doneness (chewy texture). If they’re still too crunchy for you, continue to cook for another 10 minutes, adding water as needed. Drain off all excess water when done cooking. Season with salt and pepper.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Top with feta cheese, green onions, and almonds. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Lunch
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: honey chicken salad, grape recipe, chicken salad
We are celebrating by buying a microwave. Just kidding. But actually, maybe we should get one. I dunno. Thoughts?
For now, honey lemon chicken salad with feta is on the menu alllll week and life is good. Life. Is. Good.
I’ve been obsessed with this recipe since 2012! I just had a friend ask about chicken salad and this instantly popped to mind. This is the most amazing chicken salad I’ve ever had.
Oh man. So good! Nice and light. I’ve never had wheat berry before but I must say I’m now a fan. I used a lemon vinaigrette and added that to the oil and honey. Turned out great!
I would love to receive your recipes in my email!
My coworker and I are drooling at the pictures. At least I have someone who appreciates good and healthy food.
The almonds are missing from the list of ingredients. How much and what kind?
I’d say about a half cup!
Hi, do you happen to have the nutrition info for this recipe? thank you
Wondering why a salad with wheat berries is filed under “gluten free”?
Thanks for the heads up, Remy.
nutritional breakdown???
Hi! Here is the tool Lindsay generally uses for the nutrition facts: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076. Hope that helps!
This was so amazing!!!! Thank you for the awesome recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it, Sarah! 🙂
So glad I found your blog tonight. This recipe will most likely be my dinner tomorrow night. Can’t wait!!! MMMM.
Ran across your recipe on pinterest. I was desperate for something “cooling” as apparently I’ve been eating too many “heaty” foods lately??? And something that I could find all the ingredients for in one grocery store over here.
I should be cooking it now, but I read more about you and …. Oh girl, I feel your living abroad joy/pain. I’m in Malaysia right now, a transplant from Texas. I volunteer for a refugee center here while my husband works.
I can relate to so many of your posts! Love that I found something for dinner tonight. Even more excited that I stumbled across your blog!
Thank you Jolie! Love that you guys are living the dream (you know I say that with a smile knowing all the joys and trials of this season of life) abroad for a period of time. Soak it up! All the hard things sort of fade away when you move back home. I can’t wait to go back someday!
Hello – I normally don’t write reviews, but I made this recipe this morning as I was sipping my coffee. I’ll make a recipe or two on a weekend morning, so I have a few meals prepared to eat throughout the week. This recipe is so good that I skipped breakfast entirely and ate this instead! Keep the recipes coming!
That’s so awesome! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks so much Colorado Girl!
Made this with a cup of cooked quinoa instead of wheat berries and it’s great!
Also, for anyone interested, all together for the dressing I combined 4T fresh lemon juice, 2 T olive oil, 1 T honey and 1/2 T red wine vinegar. Very tasty indeed. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks Alex! Appreciate the comment!
Used store bought rotisserie chicken as I had some in my frig. Used Farro instead of wheat berrys. Had this in my house also. Followed the recipe just substituted these two things. Best chicken salads very. My family loved it. Thank you.
Great! Thanks Bonnie!
What kind of vinegar do you use?
White vinegar, usually.
what is the wheat berries?
is this something that is purchased in a specialty store?
what is the brand name for this? I went to the supermarket and they never heard of this.
would love to try this dish!!
About the microwave, I am puzzled why the rejection of progress is considered a virtue. Of all the people who need a microwave, it’s people who live in unbearably hot, humid climates who don’t LOVE that climate. Please. Cook once a week, microwave your good food the rest of the days.
Here’s where the microwave is a bad thing: when we resort to buying processed foods and microwaving them, and forget that eating is really nourishing our bodies and our souls. Not that this isn’t what some of us have resorted to, just that it’s the idea that eating chemicals is somehow the same as dining.
Ideas for substitutions for the wheat berries? Can’t find them at a store in town and want to make the chicken salad tomorrow!
Do you have bulgur or quinoa? Both are nutty grains (er, seeds) and would be yummy in this!
I have quinoa so I will give that a try! Thanks! 🙂
I just discovered your beautiful blog via Pinterest. I love it!!! Your food looks & sounds amazing!! Your photography is awesome too! I was thinking of making this salad but was unsure what Lemon Dressing is exactly? Is it a special recipe or brand ? Thanks & Blessings on the blogging & Philippine adventures!
Rachael
Thanks for the nice comment Rachael! I just used a low fat lemon dressing that I bought… I think the brand is Brianna’s. Any kind of citrusy dressing you like would be great. 🙂
So, I just found this through Pinterest and I’m totally going to be a new follower of your blog! This looks SO good and I am going to make this for dinner sometime this week. I read through the comments and saw that you compared the wheat berries to Quinoa and I was thinking of trying this out with a sprouted rice/quinoa medley that I just bought at Costco this weekend. Do you think it would work well? I’m trying to come up with new/healthy ideas for this medley so it doesn’t just sit in my cupboard for months! 😉
Yep! I do. You could pretty much use any grain that you like!
Made this last night with the medley and it was so great! I also had to use dried cranberries instead of grapes (the store’s grapes were a little sad looking). Seriously amazing, I could live on this stuff! 😉
Hi!
That salad looks absolutely divine! I’d love to try out your recipe. Where did you find the wheatberries, though? So far I haven’t found them in the Rustans groceries I have visited. Thanks!
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it. On the microwave… I vote no. While I’m not in the Phillipines, I am in Texas and it’s pretty hot here at times. We have not had a microwave in 5 years and while I do miss it at times, I am glad we don’t have one. I think it’s a gateway to eating processed junk even if you just get it with the intentions of reheating squash soup. 🙂
What kind of Vinegar did you use in this recipe?
Just white distilled vinegar.
I love wheat berry salads like this. It’s so beautiful, and I plan on trying it out sometime. Thank you!
This question will definitely show how much I don’t know about cooking but… what are wheat berries? Are they expensive? Poor girl just looking for delicious meals on a mega-budget here! 🙂
They’re little dried grains that you cook in boiling water, kind of like a rice or a quinoa, but round and chewy. Lots of people crush them into wheat flour. You can find them at any health foods store – Bob’s Red Mill is a well-known brand that carries them. 🙂