Strawberry Chicken Avocado Salad,  a light but protein-packed salad to be enjoyed all year-round!

I’ve always felt that salads are one of the most overlooked meals out there.  Too often they’re cast to the sidelines to serve supporting roles to the “real meal”, downplayed as side dishes and appetizers.  

I think that’s a real shame because a good salad can be a great way to get your daily protein and veggies without overloading on calories.  Furthermore, they’re just plain delicious (and if you disagree, I’m telling you you’ve just been eating the wrong kinds of salads).

This Strawberry Walnut Avocado Salad is one of my favorite meals for both lunch and dinner.  It’s simple to make and packed with refreshing flavors and great textures.  

With soft, fresh greens, crunchy walnuts, tart berries, smooth avocado, roasted chicken, and a peppering of poppy-seeds, it hits all your senses at once — and that’s before you even add the dressing!

I use a light, olive oil based homemade salad dressing that is super easy to make (and very customizable.  It’s just a little tart with sweet undertones from the honey and a balsamic tang from the vinegar.

Making it is simple (especially if you have a mason jar handy).  

• First, measure out equal parts olive oil, honey, and balsamic vinegar.  
• Then add your lemon juice and poppy seeds.   I pour everything into a mason jar because this is the easiest way to mix everything up — I just shake it until the ingredients are well-combined!  

If you don’t have a resealable container to use you can also stir everything together really well with a whisk, instead.  Just be aware that the poppy seeds tend to float to the top, so give everything a good shake/stirring each time before you pour out some dressing.

• Next, prepare all of your ingredients for the salad.  This is easy — rinse your greens, quarter your strawberries, and slice your avocado.  Shred your rotisserie chicken into bite-sized pieces.  

Good berries and avocados are easy to get your hands on this time of year, and so this strawberry walnut avocado salad is a great late summer meal, but I enjoy this light yet filling salad year round, as well.  

You can take two routes with the salad once you have all your ingredients prepped: either chuck everything in a large bowl and toss it all together, or you can serve the salads “deconstructed” (as seen in the first picture), neatly arranged by ingredient on a bed of greens, for the eater to mix together as desired (usually I go for the “thrown together” look, because it’s quicker)!

And that’s it!  Enjoy!

What are your favorite salad toppings?

5 from 1 reviews

Strawberry Chicken Avocado Salad

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

This amazing salad will knock your socks off!

Author: Rosemarie Groner

Recipe type: 15 min meals

Cuisine: Fresh Salads

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• Dressing
• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• ⅓ cup honey
• ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• Salad
• 5.5 oz mixed greens
• 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 lb strawberries - tops removed & quartered
• 1 avocado - peeled, pit removed, & sliced

Instructions

1. Dressing
2. In a pint-sized mason jar*, combine all dressing ingredients (olive oil, vinegar, honey, lemon juice, and poppy seeds).
3. Seal jar tightly with lid and shake vigorously. Set aside.
4. (*If you do not have a mason jar, you can combine the ingredients in any container with a good seal, or combine the ingredients in a medium-size bowl and whisk vigorously to combine).
5. Salad
6. In a large salad bowl, combine mixed greens, rotisserie chicken, walnuts, strawberries, and avocado.
7. Toss with tongs or large forks/spoons until well-combined.
8. Evenly distribute salad into 4-6 salad bowls and serve with dressing on the side. Be sure to shake dressing well before pouring over salad, as the ingredients will settle and the poppy seeds tend to float to the top.

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