Chicken Mango Avocado Salad

and left behind our phone number of 34 years!! Bella did her best to keep the blog going but now I've regained my kitchen space. 

Chicken Mango Avocado Salad

Cook's Notes: A light healthy salad to beat the Minnesota heat wave. 100 degrees for a Memorial Day is quite  a spectacular number when you consider ice out on most lakes was May 7th.  
The combination of sweet, savory and tangy ingredients make this a refreshing and memorable summer salad and the honey vinaigrette couldn’t be easier! I used a combination of torn baby spinach leaves mixed with 2 cups from a bag of chopped salad mixture that included kale to add more nutrients. Chopped mango and creamy avocado pieces elevated this chicken salad to a whole new level. Grilling the chicken and making the dressing early in the day before serving is a time saver. The honey vinaigrette dressing is enough for 4 salads. Recipe adapted from natashahaskitchen.com  and is a Cheesecake Factory copycat recipe.

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 large chicken breasts, grilled and sliced diagonally into strips 
• 2 cups torn baby spinach leaves
• 2 cups chopped salad mixture for a bag found in produce 
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup English cucumber sliced
• 1 mango pitted, peeled and diced
• 1 avocado pitted, peeled and diced
• 3/4 cup purple onions, thinly sliced
• Optional 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted, for topping

Honey Vinaigrette Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 TB. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 3 tsp. honey
• 1 garlic clove 1 tsp minced
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper or to taste

Salad Directions: 

• Grill or bake chicken and refrigerate. 
• In a large salad bowl, add chopped greens, diced chicken strips, tomatoes, cucumbers, mango and avocado pieces and 1/4 cup cilantro. (and yes cilantro can be omitted if you have a cilantro aversion).

Honey Vinaigrette Dressing Directions:

• Combine the Honey Vinaigrette Dressing ingredients in blender. Mix well and taste test to balance ingredients. If not using dressing right away, shake well just before serving. Drizzle the salad dressing over the chicken mango avocado salad.
  

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