Honey Dijon Chicken Salad
with barley / plums / walnuts
This salad feels like such a tribute to early summer that we wanted to bring it back in the same time of year as we did last in 2019. It's a combination that we turn to again and again as the weather warms up, particularly because all of the ingredients can be prepped ahead and served chilled.
Ingredients
- Barley, hulled and uncooked - 2/3 cup
- Mustard, Dijon - 1 Tbsp
- Honey - 1 Tbsp
- Vinegar, red or white wine - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Oil, olive - 5 Tbsp
- Green beans - 1 lb, 1” / 2.5 cm pieces
- Chicken breasts, boneless and skinless - 1 lb, cubed
- Plums - 2, chopped (sub peaches or apricots)
- Butter lettuce - 6 oz, torn or chopped (sub any type of lettuce / greens)
- Walnuts, halves or pieces - 2 oz
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Honey Dijon Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - 2 Tbsp + 6 Tbsp
- Cheese, blue - 4 oz (sub feta or goat cheese)
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Barley - (Skip if made ahead for Tuesday.) Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Salt water generously and add barley. Simmer for 45 to 55 minutes until tender but not soggy. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together mustard, honey, and vinegar. Add olive oil while whisking. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Green beans - Chop green beans. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Cook green beans - Place green beans in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a wet paper towel and microwave until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Chicken - Slice into cubes. Tenderize with a fork and season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Plums / Lettuce - Prep as directed.
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Make
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add walnuts to dry skillet and saute until golden brown and fragrant, ~5 minutes. Set walnuts aside and return skillet to heat.
- Increase heat to medium-high and add cooking oil. To heated oil, add chicken and saute until nearly cooked through, ~4 minutes. Add first part of vinaigrette and simmer until chicken is cooked through and vinaigrette cooks down, ~2 minutes more.
- Assemble salads by creating a bed of lettuce in each serving bowl. Top with green beans, barley, plums, chicken, walnuts, and crumbled cheese. Finish with second part of vinaigrette. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
16 reviews
This was absolutely delicious! We had leftover grilled chicken breasts so we didn't even marinate them, just used the dressing only as a dressing. We also used goat cheese. Kept walnuts. For the greens, we used a mix of everything we have in the house - butter lettuce, spinach, romaine, and one night even some arugula. Doesn't matter the green! The balance of flavors is fantastic and very healthy.
0 HelpfulLoved this! The only thing my 6yo didn’t like was the lettuce and beans. I call that a win. Enjoyed the barley with this. Next time I’ll double dressing. Also great for using up rotisserie chicken for our non-veggie family members.
0 HelpfulThis salad was the bomb! I subbed baby spinach, a peach, and sliced almonds. The combination of flavors was so good. I will definitely make this again!
0 Helpful