This flavorful Moroccan inspired chicken salad recipe takes minutes to make and is full of good-for-you ingredients like avocado, pineapple, roasted red peppers & spices.
Harissa Lime Grilled Chicken Salad with a Creamy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette, a Moroccan inspired fresh salad that takes minutes to make but full of unexpected delicious flavors!
I cannot believe how fast this week has gone. I seriously feel like I just got back from Santa Barbara and its already Friday! Next thing you know it will be May.
Oh wait.. thats next week!
Sometimes I feel like I want to throw a toddler temper tantrum, stomp my feet on the ground and tell time to slow down! Do you ever feel like that?
I would love to just to sit enjoy the moment and not feel like I moving from one event to the next.
I felt like that a couple weeks ago when I made this Harissa Lime Grilled Chicken Salad for the first time – just sat, relaxed, and enjoyed eating this salad..
I hadn’t tried Harissa before … but if you remember one of my goals for the beginning of this year was to try new things in the culinary world.
Speaking of .. I tried octopus this past weekend .. interesting … not bad just interesting because you can see the tentacles. 🙁
Ok, back to the salad.
So Harissa, have you tried it?
Do you know what it is?
Well, let me enlighten you. Its a Moroccan Hot Chili Paste. It kinda tastes like a combo of sweet roasted red peppers and hot chilis, but its not overly hot. Its pretty much delicious and I’ve been putting it on everything lately!
For this recipe I wanted to mix a bunch of different flavor profiles. To be honest I wasn’t sure it was going to work, I was just kinda throwing stuff together. But that’s what’s so fun about cooking, no rhyme or reason just experimenting!
Guess what?
It totally worked. #success
Not only is this dish so fun and colorful to look at. It is gluten free, healthy, easy to make, involves the grill (which just boosts this dish to the next level), and will keep your taste buds guessing at which flavor it coming next!
The Creamy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette is a concoction that Cason and I made. For real. This kid just dips his finger in to a vinegar based dressing and says… mommy I think you need this! He’s such my little Bobby Flay and I love it! I was trying to shoot for a chimichurri base for the dressing and then added in some greek yogurt to smooth it out.
It’s ah-mazing and totally works with the rest of the ingredients!
I really hope you try this recipe, it will blow your mind how all the flavors go so well together. There’s sweet, salty, spicy, and creamy! Everything you want in a dish and then some.
Brighten your salad adventures and move away from the plain old lettuce, tomato, and cucumber recipes. Your family will thank you for it!
Harissa Lime Grilled Chicken Salad with Creamy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 14 mins
- Total Time: 24 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Salad, Chicken
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
This flavorful Moroccan inspired chicken salad recipe takes minutes to make & is full of ingredients like avocado, pineapple, roasted red peppers & spices.
Ingredients
Harissa Lime Chicken:
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons of Mina Harissa
- 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of dry cilantro
- juice of one lime
- juice of one lemon
- salt & pepper
Salad Ingredients:
- 8 rings of pineapple, sliced 1/2″ thick
- 1 cup of julienned roasted red pepper
- 4 tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 12 oz. of fresh spring mix salad
Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette:
- 1 garlic clove
- 3/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
- juice of one lime
- 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup of plain greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup of olive oil
Instructions
- In a bowl mix, harissa, smoked paprika, ground cinnamon, dry cilantro, lime juice, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Mix until just combined.
- Add raw chicken breasts to bowl. Toss so that chicken breast is covered. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes to let sauce soak to the chicken.
- In the meantime, to a food processor add, garlic clove, red wine vinegar, lime juice, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, greek yogurt, and olive oil. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat grill to medium high heat, add marinaded chicken to grill along with fresh pineapple rings.
- Grill chicken for 5-7 minute per side. (until there is no more pink in center) Grill pineapple for 2-3 minutes per side, so you get grill marks.
- Assemble salad, add 3 oz. spring mix to 4 small bowls, top each with roasted red peppers, grilled pineapple, avocado slices, crumbled feta cheese, and sliced grilled harissa lime chicken. Serve with vinaigrette on the side.
Filed Under:
IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, BE SURE TO SNAP A PIC AND HASHTAG IT#JOYFULHEALTHYEATS. I LOVE SEEING WHAT YOU MAKE!
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