Festive Cranberry Salad with Chicken and Pecans is a beautifully simple fresh green salad to toss together for a light lunch. The tartness of dried cranberries balances the sweetness of poppy seed dressing and the crunch of candied pecans with some nice, moist cooked chicken.
What to Do with Leftover Cooked Turkey
Leftover, cooked turkey is perfect here, too. This salad will be ideal to make on the day after a Holiday meal when you want a break from cooking, have leftover turkey, and have not yet had your fill of cranberries. It’s best if your poultry has been perfectly cooked so that it’s done without being dried out. Read this post on Flavourful, Crispy-skinned, Moist Roast Chicken or Turkey to learn how.
Cranberry Salad with Chicken is easy to whip up with some leftover cooked chicken or turkey.
Don’t wait for the Holidays to make this salad, though! I enjoy it all year round. Sliced, freshly cooked chicken breast is delicious on it! I fry mine gently in a little coconut or avocado oil in my frying pan. Try to cook your meat just until it’s done but still moist. Use a sharp knife for clean slices. Get the details here.
Grill a fresh chicken breast for your salad, or slice some leftovers from your turkey dinner.
Cranberry Salad with Chicken
This salad recipe is for two servings. Feel free to half, double, or triple it according to your needs.
Naturally, you can adjust the quantities of the ingredients to suit your preferences. The amounts given in the recipe are the amounts used to calculate the nutritional information.
Whether a light end-of-summer lunch or an after-the-turkey treat, Cranberry Salad with Chicken and Candied Pecans is sure to be a favourite.
Click here for the recipe for the Poppy Seed Salad Dressing that I love to use.
I find my toaster oven handy for toasting the pecans, so I’m not heating up the whole big oven for such a small job.
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Cranberry Salad with Chicken and Candied Pecans
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons pecan pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
- Dash sea salt
- 8 ounces cooked chicken or turkey
- 6 cups fresh spring greens mix
- 4 tablespoons dried cranberries
- 4 tablespoons Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
Instructions
- Toss pecans with maple syrup and salt. Spread onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast in a preheated 350 F oven for about 8 minutes, watching them closely. Remove from pan to cool.
- Meanwhile, slice the cooked chicken.
- Arrange lettuce on plates to serve. Top it with chicken, cranberries, pecans, and salad dressing.
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