Pear salad with walnuts, avocado, and grilled chicken

Ingredients

Salad

• 6 cups (1.5 L) spring mix
• 2 pears (such as Red Anjou and Green Anjou), sliced or chopped
• 6 oz. (170 g) grilled chicken breast
• 2 slices cooked turkey bacon
• ¼ cup (60 mL) goat cheese crumbles
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) dried cranberries
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped walnuts, raw or toasted
• ½ avocado, sliced or chopped into chunks

Maple Balsamic Dressing

• ½ cup (125 mL) balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) olive oil
• 1 tsp (5 mL) maple syrup
• 1 tsp (5 mL) Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp (5 mL) minced garlic
• ½ tsp (2 mL) sea salt
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) Italian seasoning

Instructions

1. Cook turkey bacon and grill chicken if you haven’t already. See notes.
2. Prepare dressing by whisking together all ingredients in a small bowl or jar. I like using a jar with a lid for this so you can easily store any leftover dressing in the fridge in that same jar.
3. To prep salad, grab four bowls and add a base of spring mix, pear slices, grilled chicken breast, bacon, goat cheese, dried cranberries, walnuts and avocado. Drizzle salad with desired amount of balsamic dressing and enjoy!

Notes:

To cook turkey bacon: Microwave: place slices on a paper towel lined microwave-safe place. Cover with another paper towel and cook on high in the microwave for 2-4 minutes, using 1-minute increments. Every microwave is different, so you’ll have to experiment with the timing for this. You want the bacon to be cooked through and crispy enough that it snaps when you chop/break it into pieces. Of course, you can also cook the bacon the stove-top using the package instructions.  I like cooking bacon in the microwave because it’s fast and I hate bacon grease being popped all over my stove.

For grilled chicken, I love using my apple cider vinegar chicken recipe, but you can use whatever seasoning you like or save time by purchasing grilled chicken from the grocery store.

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