Harvest Chicken Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

A main dish fall chicken salad with apples, roasted squash, figs, and more. There is a bottle of maple balsamic vinaigrette.

5 from 1 vote

Harvest Chicken Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

This Harvest Chicken Salad features all the best flavours of fall, topped with a delicious maple balsamic vinaigrette. Elegant, but simple!

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Canadian

Diet: , Gluten Free, Low Lactose

Servings: Main Dish Servings

Calories: 646kcal

Equipment

Large nonstick pan

Ingredients

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

¼ cup Olive Oil
¼ cup Maple Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoon Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Garlic Clove peeled and pressed or finely minced
Salt to Taste

Roasted Squash and Chicken Breasts

4 Small Chicken Breasts
Dried Sage
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt
1 small Butternut Squash Peeled and chopped into ½" cubes
4 tablespoon Avocado Oil Divided

Salad Base

6 cups Salad Greens of Choice
1 Apple
4 Fresh Figs
⅔ cup Unsweetened Dried Cranberries
½ cup Sliced Celery
½ Small Red Onion thinly sliced
6 Crimini Mushrooms sliced

Instructions

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Measure all of the vinaigrette ingredients into a blender or the cup of an immersion blender, blitz until smooth.
Season with salt, to taste, then cover and chill until ready to serve.

Roasted Chicken Breasts and Squash

Preheat oven to 400 F, Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Trim chicken breasts if necessary, season all over with sage, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, toss the chopped squash with 2 tablespoon of the avocado oil, and a bit of sage, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Measure with your heart!
Spread the seasoned butternut squash pieces over the pan, roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, heat the remaining 2 tablespoon of oil in a medium nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
Add the seasoned chicken breasts to the pan, cook for 3-4 minutes or so, until well browned. Flip, brown on the other side.
Remove from heat.
Once the 10 minutes are up, add the browned chicken breasts to the pan of squash and return to the oven for 20 more minutes.
Keep an eye on the chicken after the 15 minute mark - it’ll be done when an instant read thermometer reaches 165 F when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken.
As the chicken and squash roasts, assemble you salads:

Salad Base and Assembly:

Divide your salad ingredients between 4 large serving bowls or plates, arranging as desired.
Once they’re fully cooked, slice the chicken breasts, place one on top of each salad, along with the squash.
Serve with the Maple balsamic vinaigrette.

Notes

Consider the salad topping ingredient amounts - and therefore, the nutritional information - mere guidelines.

Add more or less of the ingredients, if you like! The ingredient amounts I gave for the salad construction are pretty generous, and we usually don't end up using all of it.

Also note: The carbohydrate and sugars show higher than they are, as the software didn't have an option for unsweetened dried cranberries - only sweetened.

Nutrition