Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken

Looking for a hearty weeknight dinner salad recipe? Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken is packed with sweet + tangy citrus flavor, and is naturally gluten free.

In defiance of all things weather and winter, ALDI has had their huge clamshells of organic spring mix salad on sale for the past couple of weeks. Well, who am I to argue? Let’s roll with it, and make up a delicious (and only slightly oxymoronic) wintry Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken today!

Astute readers might notice that today’s spring mix dinner salad photos pretty much epitomize why I shouldn’t try to write up recipes for you all when I’m overly hungry. Why? Well, looking at the recipe, there are also supposed to be sliced almonds across the top of this salad, aren’t there? But… I managed to make the dressing, chop everything, cook the chicken, put the salad together, take photos, mix it up, and actually start eating from this plate before realizing that they were missing.

Trust me, though: Do add the almonds. They take it up a notch. I added them to my plate, and enjoyed the rest of my dinner a little more… and, a little more slowly. 😉

Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken

Ingredients

– for the dressing / marinade

Juice of two clementines
Juice of 1 small lime
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

– for the salad

1 Tbsp olive oil
1.25 lbs chicken tenderloin
5 oz spring mix salad
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 avocados, sliced or chopped
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds
3 green onions, chopped

Directions

Combine all of the dressing/marinade ingredients. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasonings to your own liking, if necessary.

Trim the chicken tenders, pour a little less than half of the citrus-lime dressing/marinade over the chicken, and turn to coat both sides.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet for one minute. Add the chicken (discarding excess marinade), and cook it in a single layer over medium-high heat for three minutes a side or until cooked through. Let the cooked chicken cool down a bit, then chop into bite-sized pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, start chopping the vegetables for your salad.

After everything is chopped and ready to go, assemble four dinner salads. Divide the spring mix among four plates or large bowls. Top each with the chopped carrots, cucumber, and avocado, sliced onion, chopped cooked chicken, sliced almonds, and chopped green onions.

Drizzle each salad with some of the reserved citrus-lime dressing, and serve.

Note: You can adjust the vegetables proportionally to your own taste here — love avocado? Add more. Not a huge carrot fan? Use fewer. Have different veggies in your house than I did today? Mix things up! You can also use boneless skinless chicken breast if you don’t have tenders; just slice it lengthwise before marinating to create two thinner pieces so that it cooks more quickly and evenly in the skillet.

Easy Peasy Clementine Squeezy

The slightly acidic marinade here keeps the chicken so juicy, and also infuses it with just enough sweet + tangy flavor to complement the rest of this hearty citrus-lime dinner salad. Clementine juice adds a fun & different twist to the dressing, and hearty chicken, avocado, and almonds make this spring mix dinner salad a filling choice — for any season!

Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken is naturally gluten free.

Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken, printable recipe

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Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken

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Looking for a hearty weeknight dinner salad recipe? Citrus-Lime Spring Mix Salad with Chicken is packed with sweet + tangy citrus flavor, and is naturally gluten free.

Course dinner

Keyword chicken, citrus, dinner salad, gluten free, lime, salad

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

- for the dressing / marinade

• Juice of two clementines
• Juice of 1 small lime
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
• Sea salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste

- for the salad

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1.25 lbs chicken tenderloin
• 5 oz spring mix salad
• 3 medium carrots chopped
• 1 cucumber peeled and chopped
• 2 avocados sliced or chopped
• 1/2 of a medium yellow onion thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 3 green onions chopped

Instructions

• Combine all of the dressing/marinade ingredients. Taste the dressing and adjust the seasonings to your own liking, if necessary.
• Trim the chicken tenders, pour a little less than half of the citrus-lime dressing/marinade over the chicken, and turn to coat both sides.
• Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet for one minute. Add the chicken (discarding excess marinade), and cook it in a single layer over medium-high heat for three minutes a side or until cooked through. Let the cooked chicken cool down a bit, then chop into bite-sized pieces.
• While the chicken is cooking, start chopping the vegetables for your salad.
• After everything is chopped and ready to go, assemble four dinner salads. Divide the spring mix among four plates or large bowls. Top each with the chopped carrots, cucumber, and avocado, sliced onion, chopped cooked chicken, sliced almonds, and chopped green onions.
• Drizzle each salad with some of the reserved citrus-lime dressing, and serve.

Notes

You can adjust the vegetables proportionally to your own taste here -- love avocado? Add more. Not a huge carrot fan? Use fewer. Have different veggies in your house than I did today? Mix things up! You can also use boneless skinless chicken breast if you don't have tenders; just slice it lengthwise before marinating to create two thinner pieces so that it cooks more quickly and evenly in the skillet.

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