Recipe of the Moment - Blackened Chicken Salad

So some people think chicken is boring. Sometimes I'm one of them. More often, my husband is one of them. I grew up not eating red meat and he didn't, so he's less likely to have a chicken craving at any time. In light of this, I needed something to impart a lot of flavor to a boneless, skinless chicken breast, which is better for you than the more flavorful chicken thigh/leg. Without owning a grill, this is slightly difficult to do. And without breading/frying the piece of chicken, which removes quite a few of the health benefits, I have a scant collection of options.

So I found this blackening recipe online to coat my chicken and proceeded to make a blackened chicken salad. I'd used a similar jerk seasoning on chicken before and had it grilled and it worked really well, so I thought the process could be transferred pretty easily to sautéing. I made my own version of this honey mustard dressing to go on top of the finished salad. All told, it was truly awesome. Very restaurant-quality. Plus, anything with avocados is automatically good. I highly recommend this one to anyone out there looking for a great salad with a great-for-you-yet-still-yummy protein.

And the best part is, the blackening recipe makes more than you need, so you could reuse it! (As long as it's stored in a decently airtight container, there's no reason not to treat this just like you would any other spice.)

Blackened Chicken Salad

Blackening Spice Ingredients

2 t paprika

4 t thyme

2 t onion powder

2 t garlic powder

1 T sugar

1 t salt

2 t pepper

1 t cayenne pepper

1 t oregano

1 t cumin

 1/2 t nutmeg

Salad Ingredients

Mixed greens

1 large tomato, chopped

1 small can yellow corn, drained

2 avocados, sliced

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive Oil

Dressing Ingredients
5 T honey
3 T Dijon mustard
2 T rice wine vinegar
2 T mayo

Directions

1. Mix all blackening spices together thoroughly
2. Place chicken breasts between saran wrap and pound with a meat mallet until a uniform 1/2 inch thickness all around (they will get much, much larger in surface area)
3. Coat chicken lightly in olive oil and rub blackening spices all over with your hands until the breasts are well coated on both sides (wash your hands!)
4. Heat one glug olive oil in a medium pan over medium high heat until shimmering
5. Sear each side of one chicken breast for about 2 minutes each till a nice crust forms
6. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan, and finish cooking (it shouldn't take too long, since the breasts are so thin)
7. Repeat process with other breast, removing both breasts to a plate, and covering with foil to keep warm
8. To make the honey mustard dressing, whisk the honey, mustard and vinegar together thoroughly. Add the mayo and whisk till combined. It should be a nice creamy consistency.
9. To create the salad, layer the mixed greens on the bottom of the plate, top with the chopped tomato, corn and avocado slices.
10. Cut the chicken breasts on the diagonal (it's prettier that way) and lay them on top of the salad
11. Drizzle the dressing over everything and you're good to go!

Enjoy!