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Tropical Chicken Salad Recipe: A Healthy Family Dinner

by Karla Heintz (Subscribe to Karla Heintz's posts)
Feb 10th 2010 10:00AM

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Filed under: Nutrition: Health, Mealtime

When we think of the tropics, we're reminded of beach time memories and juicy, tasty fruit. What child can pass up sweet, tropical fruits any time of year?

This recipe combines a tasty blend of flavours not just from mango and pineapple, but with a hint of cilantro as well. Cilantro is also known as "Chinese parsley" and tends to be richest in flavour in fresh form versus dried. Some describe its taste as a blend of parsley and citrus, which lends itself well to many fruit and corn dishes, too.

This quick and easy salad recipe is sure to be a new family favourite, as the kids will enjoy the flavours (and juiciness), and parents can enjoy the serving of fibre, great calcium, iron, potassium and low sodium it provides.

Tropical Chicken Salad recipe, after the jump...

Tropical Chicken Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

1 tbsp sesame oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 orange cut into wedges
1 mango, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pineapple, sliced into 1-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
4 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tbsp grated orange zest

  • Pour sesame oil into a medium-sized pan on medium heat. When the oil has heated, add chicken pieces and squeeze the juice out of the orange wedges and cover. Every 5 minutes, stir the chicken until all the pieces are fully cooked.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, place mango, pineapple and celery pieces. Sprinkle cilantro on top and mix well. Tip: if there are any natural juices from the pineapple as you cut it, be sure to save it and you can put that in the dressing mixture as the flavours will be stronger.
  • In a small bowl, mix the yogurt, orange juice and orange zest. Split this mixture in half.
  • In a Ziploc bag (or bowl) place the cooked chicken and half of the dressing mixture. Mix well. Option: let this dish sit for 15 minutes to absorb the full flavours.
  • On 4 plates, evenly divide the spinach and top with with the fruit mixture. Add chicken, and pour the other half of the dressing over each individual plate. Top with slivered almonds for a nice, nutty touch.

Nutrition Per Serving: 356 calories, 7.3g fat, 38g protein, 36g carbohydrates, 27g sugar, 4.8g fibre, 178 DFE folate, 231 mg calcium, 3.5mg iron, 181mg sodium, 1151mg potassium

Karla Heintz, B.Sc., is a nutritionist and author of Picky? Not Me, Mom! A Parents' Guide to Children's Nutrition.

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