Hot Chicken & Apple Salad
Submitted by rainy
Warm chicken and Granny Smith apple salad with Gorgonzola cheese, carrots, and a hot apple cider vinaigrette over fresh spinach. A fast microwave dinner salad.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
15 minREADY
25 minThis warm chicken salad lands somewhere between a weeknight dinner and a bistro dish. Paprika-dusted chicken breast gets cooked in apple cider, then tossed with crisp Granny Smith apples, carrots, and crumbled Gorgonzola over a bed of fresh spinach.
The apple cider does triple duty here: it poaches the chicken with subtle fruit flavor, softens the carrots and apples, and becomes the base for a warm vinaigrette with shallots and white wine vinegar. Nothing gets wasted.
Serving everything warm over raw spinach is the move that ties it together. The heat from the chicken and dressing just barely wilts the greens, giving you that halfway point between a crisp salad and a cooked dish. The Gorgonzola melts slightly on contact, turning creamy and tangy against the sweet apple chunks.
Kitchen Tips
- Cut the chicken into uniform bite-sized pieces so they cook evenly in the microwave. Uneven pieces mean some are overcooked while others are still pink.
- Use Granny Smith apples specifically. Their tartness holds up against the rich Gorgonzola and they keep their crunch when briefly microwaved.
- Reserve those two teaspoons of cider liquid carefully. That concentrated cooking liquid is your dressing base and carries all the chicken and apple flavors.
- Serve immediately. This salad doesn’t hold well because the spinach wilts more as it sits and the apples start to brown.
Variations
- Swap Gorgonzola for crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese if you want a milder tang.
- Add toasted walnuts or candied pecans for crunch that complements the apple-cheese combination.
- Use a stovetop skillet instead of the microwave for better browning on the chicken.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine paprika, pepper and pinch of salt in a plastic bag.
Add chicken and shake to coat.
Set aside.
Place cider in an 8 inch square baking dish ; microwave at high 30 to 45 seconds.
Add chicken; cover with wax paper and microwave at medium-high 6 to 7 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes.
Drain chicken and set aside.
In reserved apple cider mixture, add carrots; cover with plastic and vent.
Microwave at high 2 minutes.
Stir in apples; microwave at high 1½ to 1½ minutes or until apples are tender.
Drain, reserving 2 teaspoons apple cider mixture in baking dish.
Combine apples, carrots, chicken and ¼ cup cheese in a bowl; toss and set aside.
Add vinegar and shallots to reserved apple cider mixture in baking dish; microwave at high 1 minute.
Drizzle over chicken mixture with remaining ¼ cup cheese and serve warm.
Comments



