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The Perfect Grilled Chicken, Goat Cheese, & Arugula Salad

Often, I find myself craving an enormous plate of delicious and healthy food for lunch that is disguised as a salad. I feel satisfied after eating it, and I also somehow feel good about myself, even though the salad is substantial and well-dressed with a flavorful dressing.
I will readily admit, this salad has a ton of components. If you want to omit or amend anything, do it! Cooking at home is meant for you and the lucky people you are feeding.
The recipe below makes enough for two incredibly large, entrée-sized salads, and can be scaled up or down according to your preference.

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

  • 1 whole skin-on chicken breast
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly-ground black pepper

For the Honey Mustard Vinaigrette:

  • ½ shallot, minced
  • 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp whole grain mustard
  • 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbsp spicy yellow mustard
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the Additional Salad Components:

  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, removed from shells and cut into slices
  • ¼ red onion, thinly sliced
  • ¼ jalapeno, seeds removed, flesh thinly sliced
  • 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 cups fresh Arugula, washed and dried on paper towels
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
  • 4 oz goat cheese, cut into small bite-sized pieces
  • ¼ cup walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup dried raisins, plumped in ½ cup of hot water and drained
  • 1 scallion, finely sliced
  • 1 perfectly-ripe avocado, sliced right before serving
  • ½ of a Honeycrisp apple, cored & cut into thin slices right before serving
  • Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

For the Chicken:

  • Preheat grill to 450F.
  • Coat chicken breast in a light layer of vegetable oil season the exterior of the chicken with kosher salt.
  • Grill the chicken breast until the inside of the breast registers 160-162F.
  • Remove the chicken breast from the grill, season both sides with freshly-ground black pepper, and allow the cooked chicken to rest for ten minutes, uncovered.
  • When ready to assemble your salad, slice the chicken breast into ¼” thick slices and serve on top of the fresh arugula.

For the Honey Mustard Vinaigrette:

  • Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients and allow them to sit together in a small bowl for 15 minutes while you prepare the additional salad components.

For the Additional Salad Components:

  • Boil your hard-boiled eggs for about 12 minutes in boiling water and set aside to cool down in cold water.
  • Remove eggs from their shells under running cold water and slice them and set aside.
  • Wash and dry the Arugula lettuce.
  • Combine your sliced red onion and sliced jalapeno with the red wine vinegar, oregano, and kosher salt and set aside in a small bowl.
  • Prepare your cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, and toasted walnuts.
  • Plump the dried raisins in ½ cup of hot water for 5 minutes, and then drain off the warm water.
  • Finely slice your scallion.
  • Cut the avocado and Honeycrisp apple.
  • Now that all of your salad components are ready, it is time to assemble the salad.
  • Combine the Arugula with about half of the honey mustard vinaigrette, and mix to evenly distribute a thin coating of the dressing over the surface of the greens.
  • Distribute the arugula into two large bowls or plates.
  • Season the greens lightly with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
  • Add the hard-boiled egg slices, the red onion and jalapeno, the cherry tomatoes, the walnuts, the plumped raisins, and sliced avocado and Honeycrisp apples.
  • Fan the slices of grilled chicken breast out over the top of the assembled salads.
  • Sprinkle the salad with the remaining honey mustard vinaigrette and a few finely sliced scallions and serve.

Notes

This salad can really be made with whatever vegetables or greens you have on hand. Feel free to change up the vinaigrette based on what you like!