This tasty walnut rooster salad combines crisp greens with candy cherries, crunchy nuts, and creamy gorgonzola cheese, tossed with juicy rooster items in a lightweight and tangy French dressing.
I really like recipes like this walnut and cherry rooster salad or my mango rooster salad as simple meals. They’re additionally nice paired with soup or a sandwich for a bistro-style lunch or dinner!
Inspiration for this salad got here years in the past when a relative introduced over a traditional creamy rooster salad studded with cherries and walnuts. Quick ahead, and I’m ceaselessly obsessive about my inexperienced, leafy model of a cherry and walnut rooster salad. It’s fast and simple to make like every good salad needs to be. The juicy rooster chunks make it excellent to tuck into as a lightweight lunch or hearty facet dish. In case you have leftover rooster in your fridge, it’s an indication. Make this salad ASAP!
Why I Love This Walnut Hen Salad Recipe
The flavors are scrumptious. I really like the distinction of crunchy walnuts and candy dried cherries with sharp blue cheese and a recent French dressing. It’s so satisfying.
It’s prepared in minutes. If you have already got your rooster cooked and prepared, the salad comes collectively in 10 minutes or much less. It’s simple to meal prep, too, and take to-go throughout the week.
It’s tremendous versatile. For lunch, dinner, or a facet dish, this rooster salad does all of it. Any season, on a regular basis! It’s even nice rolled up inside lavash bread as a rooster salad wrap.
Elements You’ll Want
The great thing about this salad is that the substances maintain it easy, however there’s a great deal of taste to go round. Try some notes right here, and scroll right down to the recipe card for a printable checklist of substances and recipe instructions.
- Hen – I like to make use of cooked boneless skinless rooster breast because it’s simple to cube up. I’ll usually make this salad each time I’ve leftover baked rooster breast or a complete roast rooster to get by means of.
- Greens – Select any mixture of your favourite salad leaves. I like a mix of child lettuce and spinach, or I’ll choose up a bag of spring combine from the shop.
- Gorgonzola Cheese – Agency, crumbly gorgonzola is a type of blue cheese from Italy. I adore it paired with walnuts in recipes like this rooster salad and my orzo salad. If you happen to aren’t a fan, crumbled feta or goat cheese makes a very good substitute.
- Cherries – Dried cherries style nice any time of the yr. When recent cherries are in season, I’ll take away the pits and chop them up to make use of as a substitute.
- Walnuts – This recipe makes use of chopped uncooked walnuts. Pecans are one other good possibility.
- Dressing – I embrace easy methods to make a simple Dijon French dressing, however you may gown your walnut rooster salad with any salad dressing you want.
The way to Make a Walnut Hen Salad
My cherry rooster salad with walnuts comes collectively similar to every other salad. First, organize the greens in a bowl. Then, it’s a matter of nestling the rooster over high and including the remainder of the toppings. On this case, crumbled gorgonzola, dried cherries, and walnuts for crunch. Whisk collectively the dressing, drizzle it over the salad, and toss! It’s as simple as that.
The Greatest Hen Salad Dressing
The sunshine Dijon French dressing that I take advantage of for this walnut rooster salad is one in all my all-time favorites. It’s ridiculously easy. To make it, mix oil and vinegar with Dijon, salt, and pepper and provides it a very good whisk or a shake in a tight-lidded jar to emulsify.
Be happy to regulate the substances to style. The recipe is definitely impressed by the dressing used within the well-known La Scala chopped salad. If you happen to’d like, go forward and embrace freshly grated parmesan like the unique!
Extra Add-In Concepts
A walnut rooster salad is a good one to customise relying on which substances are in season. As all the time, I’d love to listen to your concepts! Within the meantime, listed below are a few of mine:
- Spring and Summer time: Recent cherries and recent berries, like strawberries or blackberries, make a pleasant add-on to this salad after they’re in season. In grilling climate, it’s scrumptious with grilled rooster, or I’ll swap rooster for steak for a model of a steak salad.
- Fall: Sliced apples, pears, and toasted pumpkin seeds or pecans are a tasty approach to transition this salad recipe into the autumn. I additionally like so as to add roasted butternut squash.
- Winter: Attempt add-ins like cabbage, kale, or different winter greens, like Brussels sprouts. Dried cranberries additionally work nice instead of cherries.
Serving Options
This rooster walnut salad is a good mild lunch. I prefer to pair it with a comfy bowl of soup, like this cream of zucchini soup, or a grilled cheese sandwich. If I’m planning a date evening dinner at dwelling, this salad makes a reasonably starter main into tacky crock pot French onion soup and our favourite chardonnay, with chocolate mousse for dessert.
Yr-round, I’ll serve this salad as a fancy-without-even-trying facet dish. It goes with pasta once we entertain, or I’ll take it alongside to our neighborhood picnics and potlucks!
Can I Meal Prep This Salad?
Completely. Again in my big-city-office days, I used to make a to-go model of this walnut and cherry rooster salad the evening earlier than to take to work within the morning. It makes a terrific mason jar salad, or you may retailer it in an hermetic container.
To prep this salad prematurely, begin by including a couple of spoonfuls of dressing to the container. Then, layer the remainder of the salad on this order: walnuts, cherries, rooster, and blue cheese, ending with the salad greens—don’t toss it or combine it collectively. Seal the container, maintain the salad within the fridge, and shake it earlier than serving.
Storing Leftovers
Sadly, as soon as dressed, this rooster salad received’t keep recent for lengthy because the leaves are inclined to wilt and change into soggy after a day or two within the fridge. If you understand you’ll have leftovers, do your greatest to retailer the salad with out the dressing (see my meal prep ideas above). Get pleasure from!
Extra Hen Salad Recipes
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Assemble the salad. Place blended greens and spinach in a big salad bowl. High with rooster, cheese, cherries, and walnuts.
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Make the dressing. Mix oil, vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl and whisk till effectively integrated. Style and modify for vinegar, salt, and pepper.
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Mix. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to mix.
- Hen choices. Use this simple baked rooster breasts recipe to cook dinner your rooster. If you happen to’d like to make use of thighs, seize this recipe for stovetop rooster thighs.
- Fruit choices. If recent cherries are in season, you should use these in the event you like. However in the event you can’t get any kind of cherries, use dried cranberries or recent berries.
Energy: 457kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 22g | Fats: 32g | Saturated Fats: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 11g | Monounsaturated Fats: 12g | Trans Fats: 0.01g | Ldl cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 350mg | Potassium: 658mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 5738IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 194mg | Iron: 3mg
Dietary data is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values might fluctuate in keeping with the substances and instruments used. Please use your most well-liked dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
