Spicy Honey Chicken Salad

 It is salad season!  Salad for Dinner in August is a great idea!  The only problem is my family can get kind of tired of me rotating through the same salad and grilling recipes over and over, especially by the time August rolls around.  Way back in April I went to dinner at a friends house for a Gourmet Club event.  The link describing the event is HERE.  The night was wonderful!  The link has all the recipes they used that night.  One of my favorite parts was the entree, which was this salad!  Delicious.  

The original recipe is from our Our Best Bites - You can find it HERE.

Last week I was making a grocery list, and feeling so BLAH about making the same old Summer time dinners, then I remembered eating this.  I am happy to say that my family loved it too!

There are so many steps to this that I recommend either making part of it earlier in the day, like the dressing.  What I did was I got help.  My husband and daughter and I all did pieces of this together.

Ingredients:

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 2lbs (Yes, Thighs!!!)
          everyone is always asking me if they can use breasts for this. Sure you can, but I’m tellin’
          ya right now it’s better with thighs.

 

2 t vegetable oil

 

Rub

2 t granulated garlic
2 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t coriander
1 t kosher salt
1 t cumin
1/2 t chipotle chili powder

 

Glaze
1/2 C Honey
1T Cider Vinegar

Instructions:

Combine the rub spices in bowl and mix well.

 

Use kitchen shears (or a pair of clean scissors) to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces.Pat dry. Drizzle oil over chicken and rub in with your hands to lightly coat all the pieces. Then toss chicken with the spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there! Grill chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

 

While chicken is cooking, warm honey in the microwave so it’s not so thick. Add the vinegar and combine well. Reserve 2T honey glaze for later. Take the rest and brush on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling.

 

I’m gonna warn you that this can make a hot mess, literally. It’s sugar, and it’s gonna drip. But the smelly smoke is worth it for a minute or two. Just leave your grill on for a few minutes after the chicken is done to burn off any excess glaze. It’s totally worth it once you taste this stuff.

 

If you don’t have a bbq, try it on an indoor grill pan or use your broiler. Just be sure to open a window in case you burn your glaze!

 

Remember how I had you reserve that extra couple tablespoons of glaze? Yeah, drizzle that on top now. Your taste buds will thank you.

Salad: 

1-2 heads Romaine or Red Leaf Lettuce 
2-3 ripe but firm avocados
2 ripe but firm mangoes, chilled 
optional: thinly sliced red onion    

This serves 4 large salads or 6 smaller sized ones.

While chicken is grilling, wash lettuce and divide among serving plates. Slice avocados, onions, and mangoes and place them on top of the lettuce. When chicken is finished, let it sit for 5 minutes before slicing to preserve the juices. Then slice it up and divide among the salads. Drench it all in the Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette and pretend you’re at a fancy restaurant!

Honey-Citrus Vinagrette -

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 T grated onion
1/3 C fresh orange juice
3T fresh lime juice
2T honey
3/4 t cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/2 C vegetable oil 

Place all ingredients in a tightly sealed jar and shake your bootie (and the jar) vigorously. Store in the fridge, and shake before dressing salad.