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Blackened Chicken Fiesta Salad

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Blackened Chicken over a flavorful chickpea fiesta salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, avocado and lime juice. A quick and easy weeknight dish!

Blackened Chicken over a flavorful chickpea salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, avocado and lime juice. A quick and easy weeknight dish!
Blackened Chicken Fiesta Salad

I love blackened seasoning, it’s great over chicken but also wonderful over salmon like this Blackened Salmon with Mango dish and these Blackened Scallops with Horseradish Sauce! I also love these Blackened Fish Tacos with Cabbage Mango Slaw using cod.

Turning this into a salad makes for the perfect light summer lunch or dinner. You can also serve this with rice or quinoa. The chicken is mildly spicy, you can increase the cayenne if you like it really hot. Blackening the chicken works best on a cast iron skillet tot give it that nice char, before putting in the oven to finish cooking. This recipe serves 4 and the portions are very generous. I actually couldn’t finish the entire chicken breast. If you want to pack leftovers for lunch, you can leave the avocado out and add it just before serving. This dish is high in protein, gluten free and ready under 30 minutes.

What does it mean to blacken chicken?

Blackening meat is a cooking technique that requires a combination of the use of spice, typically a Cajun herb blend,  and a well cooked char of the spices to create a crust. This is usually done with chicken, meat or firm types of fish. What is the difference between grilled and blackened chicken? The seasoning blend is the key part to blackening any meat, with out it, it is simply charred or grilled.

How To Make Blackened Chicken

Spice rubbed chicken breasts served with a flavorful chickpea salad with fresh corn and avocados – a quick and easy weeknight dish!

 Blackened Chicken over a flavorful chickpea salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, avocado and lime juice. A quick and easy weeknight dish!

Chickpea Salad in a bowl.

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Blackened Chicken Fiesta Salad

5 from 24 votes
2
Cals:516
Protein:60
Carbs:40
Fat:13.5
Blackened Chicken over a flavorful chickpea salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, avocado and lime juice – a quick and easy weeknight dish!
Course: Dinner, Salad
Cuisine: American
 Blackened Chicken over a flavorful chickpea salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, avocado and lime juice. A quick and easy weeknight dish!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 Servings
Serving Size: 1 breast, 3/4 cup salad

Ingredients

For the salad:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup fresh cooked corn, from 1 large ear
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1/4 cup minced red onion, finely diced
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 4 oz diced avocado, 1 small haas

For the chicken:

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F.
  • In a large bowl, combine the garlic, lime juice, oil, cumin, crushed red pepper, and salt.
  • Add the chickpeas, corn, tomato, onion and cilantro; mix well.
  • Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes until it is smoking hot.
  • Mix together the paprika, salt, cayenne, cumin, thyme, and garlic powder. Spray the chicken breasts with cooking spray on both sides, then coat the chicken breasts evenly with the spice mixture.
  • Place the chicken in the hot skillet, and cook for 1 minute. Turn, and cook 1 minute on other side. Transfer to the oven and bake until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear and a thermometer reads 165F inserted in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. Slice chicken.
  • When ready to eat, gently mix avocado into the salad, top with chicken and serve right away.

Last Step:

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 breast, 3/4 cup salad, Calories: 516 kcal, Carbohydrates: 40 g, Protein: 60 g, Fat: 13.5 g, Cholesterol: 166 mg, Sodium: 855 mg, Fiber: 9 g, Sugar: 2 g

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