Avocado & Lime Spring Chicken Salad
Spring is springing and our appetites are changing! After 6 month of soup, pasta, and chili for lunch I’m starting to crave lighter, brighter flavours so today I decided to throw together some chicken salad to keep in the fridge for lunch this week. This is super doooper healthy but the greek yogurt and avocado make the chicken salad super creamy and ohhhhh so good.
After spending a week in Florida with the family I was craving a little southwestern flare so I decided to dress them up with some avocado, lime, cilantro and spice. Our kids love taco’s & burritos so they love the cumin, chili & paprika addition BUT feel free to leave out any spice that your kids don’t enjoy. These are creamy & delicious seasoned simply with S&P as well.
Avocado and Lime Spring Chicken Salad wraps
- 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lime quartered
- ¾ cup of plain Greek yogurt ( full fat)
- 1 large tomato diced
- 1 yellow pepper diced
- 2-3 stalks of celery diced
- 1 tbsp of grainy mustard ( optional)
- 2 tbsp of mayo
- ½ of a bunch of chopped cilantro
- 1 large ripe avocado diced
- 1 tsp Chilli powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 tsp Avocado oil ( or whatever oil you use)
- Lettuce, Pita’s or Wraps ( depending on how you eat your chicken salad!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Season chicken liberally with salt pepper. Drizzle a small amount ( roughly ½- 1 tsp) of avocado oil on the breasts and sprinkle with some paprika, cumin and chilli powder. Rub into the breasts and allowed them to sit while the oven preheats.
Place them in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. I was using boneless, skinless breasts but anything works here. Make sure you always check your poultry with a meat thermometer. Cooking times vary depending on the cut and weight.
Add your diced celery, pepper and tomato to a medium sized bowl. I was using a beef steak tomato because it is what I had in the fridge. I didn’t want to water the salad down so it is important to seed the big, juicy tomato. If I make this in the summer I would definitely use my cherry tomatoes from the garden, I would also add some grilled corn…yum….is it summer yet!? ; ) Also, If I was making this for myself, I would have added some red onion, but the kids don’t love raw onion so I left it out. Feel free to substitute any preferred veggie of your choice for extra crunch!
When chicken is cooked remove it from the oven, squeeze a quartered lime wedge on each, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
Next up add ½ cup of greek yogurt, 2 tbsp’s of mayo or miracle whip , 2 tsp of grainy mustard ( optional, but I love it in almost any dressing I’m making). Add your chopped, ripe avocado. It is important that the avocado is ripe so it can add to the creaminess of the chicken salad. Squeeze half a lime over the salad and add your chilli pepper, cumin, and paprika. Add S& P to taste. If you like a little spice ( like me) sprinkle some cayenne pepper over it as well.
Chop chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the salad mixture. If you desire additional creaminess then add the remaining quarter cup of yogurt. I added it but you may not want it any creamier then it is depending on the size of your chicken breasts. Cool salad in the fridge and chop half a bunch of cilantro, mix it into the salad once it has cooled. I tasted it and chose to add additional chilli powder, cumin powder & cayenne powder before serving but that is a preference thing, use you taste buds as a guide!
I have ate this creamy chicken salad piled on top of lettuce, scooped into a pita and occasionally straight from the bowl! I didn’t have any pita’s in the house today so we used whole wheat wraps and topped the chicken salad with shredded lettuce and it tasted great but I would still probably recommend the pita’s. : )
