BY NOEL CUNNINGHAM
With the start of the new year comes changes and ideas to better ourselves and our bodies. One of the top ten new year’s resolution is to start a diet, get fit or eat healthily. The truth is oftentimes this goes through the window by the end of January. We all know that dieting can be a struggle for a lot of people, and any fitness guru can tell you that a fit body consists of 70% dieting and 30% of what you do in the gym. As a chef, I believe that we use the word dieting loosely and create it to be a monster. In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism daily. On the other hand, Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity. So now that we are clear on the difference, when approaching a new eating style don’t look at it as a burden or something strange. Living a healthy lifestyle can be done without partaking in excessive restrictions, and rules that take over your life.
This week I’m sharing with you a healthy salad that can be served as an entree on a day of low carbs. This salad is packed with all the essential nutrients that your body needs to keep you going. To take things up a notch I’ve used a honey mustard vinaigrette that is super easy to whip up and adds a just-right sweet and sour blend to any salad and of course the star of the dish is the crispy chicken that was season with salt and pepper and fried in an air fryer. You can also pan fry your chicken strips if you don’t have an air-fryer. For the dressing, you can store it in an airtight container and use it on just about any salad of your choice.
Crispy Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
¼ cup kale, washed and chopped
½ cup Romaine Lettuce, washed and chopped
½ apple, thinly sliced
1 small tomato, sliced
½ cup cucumber, sliced
½ small avocado, sliced
¼ cup pecans
3 tbsp feta cheese, crumbles
1 cooked chicken breast, cut in strips
Dressing
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup vinegar
3 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
For the dressing: In a blender combine all the ingredients and blend until the liquid emulsifies.
To combine your salad, toss together the kale, romaine, apples, cucumbers and tomatoes in a light amount of dressing then put on the plate then top with pecans and avocado, then drizzle with 2 ounces of dressing and enjoy.
