Spring is upon us and I have been craving all the fresh foods lately! The sun has been shining and the snow is melting which is getting me in the mood for big loaded salads, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Since it is still winter, however, and I live in Wisconsin I am sure mother nature is just toying with me with this nice weather. Luckily, there is still plenty of winter fruits and vegetables that can satisfy my fresh food cravings.
I’ve said it before and I am going to say it again. Salads do not have to suck! In fact, I have an entire blog post about salads and how to make one that doesn’t suck. You can find it here and learn how to create a worthy salad. In the post a give tons of different ideas and creations for salads that you may have never thought of before. Check it out!
This salad didn’t disappoint and I will be making it again soon! I learned a great trick from a blogger I follow, The Defined Dish, and I tried it on this salad and it worked wonders. The trick is to make your dressing first in the bowl you will be tossing the salad in. Once you have the dressing made, you then add all the salad ingredients and toss. Boom, just like that your salad is made and dressed with only dirtying one bowl. Best tip ever.
If you have a favorite method for roasting sweet potatoes by all means do it. I give you two different ways to roast your sweet potato for this recipe so be sure to check out the note section. For a little meal prep tip, I roasted an entire large sweet potato and stored the leftovers in the fridge to add to meals later on. Full recipe and notes below!
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2-2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee
- 3-4 large handfuls fresh arugula
- 1 pear, chopped
- ½ cucumber, chopped
- ¼ cup cranberries
- 1 cup sweet potato, roasted
- 2-3 tbsp goat cheese
- For the dressing:
- -1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- juice of ½ lemon
- ½ tsp honey
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- ⅛ tsp rosemary
- ⅛ tsp thyme
- First, get the sweet potatoes roasting. This can be done in the oven or in an air fryer. Chop the sweet potato into small chunks and toss with melted ghee or coconut oil, salt and pepper.*
- While the sweet potato is roasting, place a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat and add 1-2 tbsp ghee or cooking oil. Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper and when the skillet is hot add the chicken breast to the pan. Cook 5-6 minutes on each side until fully cooked through. Set aside.
- While the chicken and sweet potato cook, compile the salad. In a large bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. In the same bowl with the dressing add the arugula, pear, cranberries and goat cheese. Toss until fully coated in the dressing.
- When the sweet potatoes are roasted add 1 cup to the salad. Chop the chicken and add to the salad and toss again until everything is fully mixed.
- Enjoy!
To roast the sweet potato in an air fryer: preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes at 360 degrees. Once preheated add the the sweet potato and cook for 20 minutes tossing every 5 minutes.