Is it the middle of December? Yes. Did I need a little bit of summer? Yes.
Between office holiday parties, dinners with friends, baking, and visiting family, there is lots and lots of heavy yummy food. It's nice to break that up with quick homemade healthy meals, like this one!
Also if you're missing sunshine and summer, this salad will give you a little piece of that.
It reminds me of something I would eat on a beach in the Caribbean. Which makes me want to be on a beach in the Caribbean. Maybe next year!? I was just at a beach in Mexico in October anyways.
This salad is sweet and tangy and REFRESHING. Which is so important during the holiday season. Not that I could ever get tired of soup and pasta....
Quick plug but not an ad: I LOVE Frontier Co-op spices. They have all the basics plus lots of fun mixes. You can find them online or at Whole Foods. I think they're in other grocery stores as well but I usually see it at WF.
Also its not news that I like everything spicy. Cholula green pepper hot sauce may be my favorite- its a fresh kinda spice. Huge fan. I buy it on amazon because I can't ever find it at grocery stores.
Recipe:
1 chicken breast, thin sliced into two pieces
1 package of arugula
1 avocado
1 mango
1 small cucumber
1 cup dry rice
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
1 lime, just the juice
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 pinch of cayenne
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon Cholula green pepper hot sauce
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
Cook rice according to package instructions
Combine 1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt with honey, 1/2 of the lime juice, turmeric, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix. Add chicken and marinate if you have time or just coat the chicken if you don't.
Bake chicken for 20 minutes, flipping after 10. Remove from oven and let sit.
While the chicken is baking, dice your avocado, mango, and cucumber. You want equal parts of each so base is off of whichever there is less of. Add to a bowl with the rest of your lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, mix.
When the rice is done, add coconut milk and stir to mix.
For dressing, add sour cream and cholula to a small bowl and mix.
For plating: start with a base of arugula, add rice, then slice chicken and add, then stop with mango salsa and a little bit of creamy cholula sauce.
Enjoy! You may want a mojito after eating this. Fair warning.