Chicken and Avocado Salad with blackbeans and smokey buttermilk dressing

This simple chicken and avocado salad is both healthy and filling. Why not take it on your next picnic?

A true classic

Would you believe this is one of the first recipes I posted online in April 2011 when the blog was called Kitchen Goddess (in training)! The blog was a chance for me to share what I was cooking in my student kitchen, learning new skills and trying new ingredients. Who knew it would end up becoming the all consuming hobby it is now! Read on to find out how I’ve upgraded this humble student salad.

Avo-what?!

I posted another chicken and avocado recipe just a few weeks ago – Chicken and Avocado Pizza. I commented on how when I first posted the recipe back in 2013 avocados weren’t quite as popular as they are now. Well, if avocados weren’t popular in 2013, people in the UK had barely heard of them back in 2011 when I first shared this recipe! I couldn’t have anticipated just how popular they’d become.

The first version of this recipe I shared was, to put it mildly, pretty boring. For a start I only used iceberg lettuce – eugh. I’ve since learnt life’s too short for watery lettuce. I also used boring ready cooked chicken. Now I griddle my chicken ahead of time with a little olive oil and plenty of herbs and spices. This is a healthy salad but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on flavour! Avocado still remains a key component but I’ve also added black beans and ripe, juicy red tomatoes. Now that we’re all obsessed with this humble green fruit it’s not enough to just plate it up with some limp lettuce and a bit of chicken. This salad has been pimped!

Pimp my salad

I’ve already mentioned that this Chicken and Avocado Salad now includes black beans and super succulent tomatoes. But to really pimp out this salad I’ve also added a smokey buttermilk dressing. You can, of course, pick up a bottle from your local supermarket. That’s perfectly fine by me, we are all busy people. But if you’re making this at the weekend or perhaps serving it up to guests then you’re probably going to want to go the whole hog and add your own homemade dressing. Don’t worry, it’s included in the recipe below.

When we are feeling particularly naughty  we have been known to serve this up with either toasted wholewheat tortilla strips or even a big old hand of corn tortilla chips! The extra added crunch is satisfying but optional.

Chicken and Avocado Salad – The Recipe!

Print

Yum

Chicken and Avocado Salad

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast with skin on
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• 1 small head of lettuce (gem or romaine work well)
• 1 large vine ripened tomatoes
• 2 spring onions
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1/2 tin of ready cooked black beans
• 100ml buttermilk
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 small garlic clove (crushed)

Instructions

1. Begin by rubbing the chicken breast with the olive oil, dried oregano and Cajun seasoning.
2. Turn a griddle pan on high and cook the chicken for 5 minutes on either side until charred on the outside and cooked through the centre.
3. Place to one side and allow to cool completely.
4. To assemble the salad, slice the lettuce into strips.
5. Dice the tomatoes, slice the spring onions and cube the flesh of the avocado.
6. Add these to the lettuce along with the drained black beans.
7. Once completely cool, slice the chicken and place on top of the salad.
8. Finally, mix together the buttermilk, lemon juice, paprika and garlic.
9. Drizzle over the salad and enjoy.

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes

0.1

https://supperinthesuburbs.com/2016/08/07/chicken-and-avocado-salad/

I guess you could say this salad has a bit of a Tex-Mex feel but it is much much lighter than any Tex-Mex food I’ve ever eaten. The salad leaves are fresh and crisp, the tomatoes are juicy, the avocado is creamy, the dressing brings the right amount of sharpness, the chicken is tender and black beans provide the roughage to make sure you’re full without feeling heavy. What is not to love?

I know it’s quite a bit of effort to go to for just a salad but if you make this on Sunday to take to work on Monday you’ll be so happy you did. Plus all of your co-workers will have lunch envy!

Make sure you pin this recipe and up-your lunch game.