No cooking at all, assuming your chicken is already cooked. Fifteen minutes of assembly and it feeds six.
Shredded chicken, avocado, red onion, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta, tossed in a creamy dressing built on Greek yogurt with dill and lemon through it.
Do not over-shred the chicken
Two to four cups, and the texture matters more than the exact amount.
You want fairly large pieces rather than fine strands. Chicken pulled apart into fine threads disappears into the dressing and the salad loses its substance. Chunky shreds stay recognisable and give each forkful something to bite on.
Rotisserie chicken is the fastest route and adds flavour. Poached or pressure cooked breast works and is leaner. Either way, pull it into pieces roughly the size of a large olive.
Rinse the sun dried tomatoes
A twelve ounce jar of julienned sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and gently rinsed.
Rinsing is the step people skip and it changes the dish. Oil-packed tomatoes carry a lot of that oil, and the dressing already has a third of a cup of olive oil in it. Without rinsing you end up with a salad that pools oil at the bottom of the bowl.
Gently is the operative word. A quick rinse under cool water and a pat dry, not a scrub. You want the oil off the surface, not the flavour out of the tomato.
The dressing is yogurt-led
Half a cup of Greek yogurt, a quarter cup of mayonnaise and a third of a cup of olive oil, plus lemon, vinegar, dill, garlic powder and a little sugar.
Yogurt rather than mayonnaise as the base is what keeps this from being heavy. Greek yogurt is thick and tangy and it carries the herbs well. The mayonnaise is there for richness and for the emulsifying effect that stops the oil separating out.
You can replace the mayonnaise with extra yogurt if you prefer. The dressing goes tangier and thinner and it still works.
Half a teaspoon of sugar sounds odd in a savoury dressing. It is balancing the vinegar and the lemon, both of which are sharp, and you will not taste it as sweetness.
Dill, fresh or dried
A teaspoon dried, or a quarter cup chopped fresh.
That ratio looks lopsided and it is correct. Dried herbs are far more concentrated than fresh by volume, since the water has gone. A rough rule is three times as much fresh as dried, and dill is fluffy enough that the gap widens further.
Fresh is noticeably better here if you can get it. Dill and lemon and yogurt together are the backbone of the whole dressing.
Make the dressing separately
Everything into a jar or bowl and whisked until well blended, then set aside while you assemble the salad.
A jar with a lid is easier. Shake rather than whisk and the oil emulsifies into the yogurt properly, which whisking by hand takes longer to achieve.
The avocado goes in last
Sliced, and added right before you toss.
Avocado browns on contact with air and nothing prevents it completely. The lemon in the dressing slows it, which is one reason the dressing goes on immediately.
If you are making this ahead or taking it somewhere, leave the avocado out entirely and add it just before serving. That is the only real way to keep it green.
Toasting the pine nuts
A quarter cup, optional, and worth the three minutes.
Raw pine nuts are soft and mild. Toasted in a dry pan over medium heat until golden, they turn nutty and crisp and become the only crunchy element in an otherwise soft salad.
Watch them constantly. Pine nuts are high in oil and they go from pale to burnt very quickly.
Serving and storing
Immediately, or covered tightly and chilled up to three days.
The three day figure assumes no avocado. With avocado in it, this is a same-day salad.
Around 349 calories per serving, and the source notes its nutrition figures are automatically calculated and should be treated as an approximation.
Cooking the chicken yourself
Season two large breasts with salt and pepper, add about a cup of water, and pressure cook for roughly forty five minutes or slow cook on high for two hours. Shred with two forks while still warm, which is considerably easier than shredding cold chicken.
Serving suggestions
On its own as a salad, piled into pitta, spooned over greens, or used as a sandwich filling. It is substantial enough to be a meal without anything alongside it.
Greek Avocado Chicken Salad
Description
A no-cook Greek chicken salad with avocado, olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta in a creamy yogurt herb dressing.
Ingredients:
Instructions
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In a jar or bowl combine the olive oil Greek yogurt mayo salt pepper garlic powder dill sugar vinegar and lemon juice. Whisk or shake until well blended and set aside
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Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat until golden if using, watching them closely
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In a large bowl combine the shredded chicken red onion kalamata olives rinsed sun dried tomatoes feta and toasted pine nuts
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Add the sliced avocado last, then pour the dressing over the top and toss well to combine
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Serve immediately, or cover tightly and store chilled up to 3 days if the avocado is left out.
Note
Nutrition per serving from source: 349 calories, 8g carbohydrates, 17g protein, 29g fat, 5g saturated fat, 42mg cholesterol, 558mg sodium, 360mg potassium, 3g fiber, 2g sugar. The source notes these figures are automatically calculated and approximate. Rinse the oil-packed sun dried tomatoes so the salad does not pool oil. Keep the chicken in fairly large shreds rather than fine strands. Add the avocado just before serving; with avocado included this is a same-day salad, without it keeps 3 days chilled.
