Crunchy Chicken & Vegetable Salad

Chicken Salad is definitely the most popular Salad. It can be made into delicious Sandwiches and served for parties & picnics. Here is the recipe for a nice Crunchy Chicken Salad with Vegetables. I have used Carrots, Celery and Pecans in this salad for extra crunchiness. Sun dried tomatoes impart so much of flavor to the salad. You may skip the dressing, if you are counting your calories. The Salad tastes yummy even without dressing.

Crunchy Chicken & Vegetable Salad

Feel free to incorporate more veggies like Bell Peppers, Avocados, Olives and so on in your salad. Serve this Salad for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

1. Finely Chopped Romaine Lettuce – 1 Bunch
2. Diced Sun Dried Tomatoes – 3 pieces
3. Diced Baby/Salad Cucumbers – 1
4. Finely Chopped Carrots – 1
5. Finely Chopped Celery – 1 stalk
6. Finely Chopped Roasted Walnuts/Pecans  – A handful
7. Cooked Chicken Breast Pieces (boneless & skinless) – 1 Cup
8. Pickled Relish – 2 tbsp
9. Salt – to taste
10. Pepper – to taste
11. Olive Oil – 1 tbsp
12. Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
13. Ranch/Mayonnaise/Any dressing of your choice – 2 tbsp (optional)

Preparation Method

1. Combine all the ingredients from 1 to 8 in a large bowl along with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Use your hands or a salad spinner for mixing everything. You may use any dressing of your choice. I used 2 tbsp of ranch dressing.
2. Serve the salad at room temperature or you may refrigerate it before serving.

Cooking Chicken Breasts

1. You can buy frozen/canned cooked chicken breasts from your grocery store. Many brands are available like Perdue, Tyson etc.
2. If you are cooking chicken breasts at home, you can poach, saute, boil, bake, grill or roast it.
3. Here is how I prepared Chicken Breasts.
4. Wash and clean the chicken breasts. Pound the breasts to make it thin and keep aside.
5. Heat a non stick skillet and coat with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the chicken breasts on the skillet. Season with salt, pepper & lemon juice.
6. Lightly fry the chicken breast pieces on high heat for 5-6 minutes on each side, till it is cooked and no longer pink. Allow it to cool.
7. Shred the cooked chicken breasts or mince it into small pieces.