
Photo Description:
As is the case with a lot of mesquite smoked chicken recipes, you can see from the picture how appetizing this is. This colorful dish features chicken, apple, avocado, a sweet and tangy homemade dressing and more, making it ideal as an appetizer, lunch or even light dinner. Out of all the chicken salad recipes there are, this is one of the nicest to serve to guests if you want to impress them. You can make easy chicken salad recipes but this one is both easy and delicious, making it the perfect dish for a dinner party or special occasion.
Smoked chicken recipes make a simple yet flavorful meal and if you have enjoyed mesquite smoked chicken recipes before, you will be glad to know that you can recreate them at home. This chicken salad recipe contains apple, celery, pecans, smoked chicken, avocado, rocket leaves (also known as arugula) and more, for a gourmet flavor. This is a wonderful appetizer if you are having a dinner party and everybody will love the exquisite, well balanced flavors. You will love how easy this is to make. You can either buy ready-smoked chicken breast or make your own if you have a smoker.
The creamy avocado goes especially nicely with the other ingredients in this delicious smoked chicken salad. A lot of people have never tried smoked chicken breast recipes before, which is a shame because this ingredient is so tasty and it combines well with any simple salad ingredients or gourmet ones, especially nuts, avocado, cheese and anything with a strong enough flavor to stand up to the smokiness. Fruit is also good with smoked chicken and you might like to add some berries to this recipe, like strawberries or raspberries, as well as the apples.
The dressing is homemade and goes very nicely with the chicken salad, because it is sweet, fragrant and delicious. If you like chicken salad recipes and smoked chicken recipes, have a go at making this wonderful smoked chicken and celery salad. Your chicken cooking might have been limited to crockpot chicken recipes, baked chicken recipes and chicken casserole recipes so far, but using smoked chicken to make a salad is simple and the results are great.
Ingredients -
1 lb mesquite smoked chicken breasts, no skin, coarsely chopped
½ cup pecans
6 oz baby rocket leaves
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 green apples, cored and finely chopped
2 avocados, halved, no skin or stone, thinly sliced
Tomato wedges and parsley sprigs to garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Dressing:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the pecans over a baking tray and cook them for 5 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown.
Cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients then season.
Place the avocado, chicken, celery, rocket, apple and pecans in a large bowl and toss.
Spoon the salad over a platter, drizzle with dressing and decorate the platter with tomato wedges and fresh parsley.
(Serves 6)