Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Cuisine at Home Magazine

Dressing:
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbsp minced shallots
1 tbsp cider vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Crusting Mixture for Chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4 breasts total)
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup coarse dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Minced zest of 1 lemon

Dipping Mixture for Chicken:
2 egg whites
2 tsp cornstarch
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salad:
8 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
4 oz mild goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl until blended; set aside.

Pound chicken breasts in a plastic bag with a little water inside. 

Whisk ingredients for the dipping mixture in a shallow dish. Combine all ingredients for the crusting mixture. Dip each chicken breast in the dipping mixture and then the crusting mixture. Let chicken rest on a rack in the refrigerator 20-30 minutes to set crust.

Saute chicken in 3 tbsp olive oil in a large nonstick, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Carefully turn with a spatula, and transfer the skillet to the oven to finish cooking. Roast chicken just until done, about 8 minutes.

Toss greens, onion, and goat cheese with dressing (You won't need all the dressing). Divide greens among 4 plates. Top greens with sliced chicken. Sprinkle any toasted crumbs left in the pan on salads. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Tips/Tweaks

Salad

For the salad portion, we typically use a mixed bag of lettuce greens and add freshly sliced cucumber to the salad. We are not a big fan of raw red onion or goat cheese, so we typically omit these.

Review

The dressing for this recipe is amazing. We have made it several times for other daily salads. The dressing and chicken go very well together, rounding out this perfect healthy salad!