Layered Quinoa Chicken Salad

I started a new job recently and have been terrible about bringing my lunch. My last place of employment was only two miles from home, so I used to be able to pop in on my lunch break and make super-tasty sandwiches, burritos and chopped salads in the comfort of my own kitchen. Now, I either need to bring a lunch, get something questionable from the nearby establishments or eat granola bars that I’ve stored in my desk. But in the midst of a busy day, sometimes a granola-bar lunch just doesn’t cut it, you know?

This salad changed everything for me though. I whipped up the components on a Sunday and packaged up a few layered salads for lunches. I was pleasantly surprised by how well they held up! The arugula didn’t get soggy, the avocado stayed nice and green from a squeeze of lemon and the cheese soaked up all the yummy flavors surrounding it.

Having this handy-dandy Good Grips Chopper by OXO made prepping this salad even breezier! It makes super-fast work of chopping all the components, and all you have to do in between chops is give it a quick rinse and it’s ready to go again.

I encourage you all to give boring lunches the boot and try your hand at making some of these delicious, portion-controlled salads!

Layered Quinoa Chicken Salad

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Prep Time:

35 min

Total Time:

35 min

Servings:

4

Ingredients

• Chicken Salad

  • 4boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked
  • 1shallot
  • 1/2cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 5oz goat cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

• Salad Layers

  • 1 1/4cups fresh strawberries
  • 1avocado, pitted, peeled
  • 1cup slivered almonds
  • 8oz goat cheese
  • 2cups arugula
  • 1 1/4cups cooked quinoa
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

• 1Cut cooked chicken into bite-size pieces; place in large bowl. Using chopper, chop shallot until minced; add to chicken. Stir in yogurt, 5 oz goat cheese, the salt and pepper to taste and juice of 1/2 lemon. Set aside.
• 2Using chopper, chop strawberries, avocado and 1/2 cup of the almonds, rinsing chopper in between. Place in separate bowls.
• 3Roll 8 oz goat cheese into 1/2 teaspoon-sized balls; roll in chopped almonds to coat. Set aside.
• 4In 4 (18-oz) jars or containers, or 2 (26-oz) jars or containers, layer arugula, chicken salad, quinoa, strawberries and slivered almonds. Arrange goat cheese balls around perimeter. Top with avocado. Squeeze remaining 1/2 lemon over avocado. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper. Cover; tote to lunch. Store in refrigerator.
• Saurce: bettycrocker.
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