This easy recipe for Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad is beyond delicious. When added to healthy greens, it makes a perfect week night dinner.
Lemons and chicken just go perfectly together. The flavors blend beautifully. Like in my Mediterranean Lemon Butter Chicken. It’s the savory flavor of the chicken kicked up by the fresh zest of lemon.
But recently Jamie Deen made a Lemon Chicken dish with the addition of Dijon Mustard. I love his Mom, Paula Deen, but Jamie is a great cook on his own. Amazing how that one more ingredient made such a difference. It really knocked the flavor out of the ballpark. Super tang and totally perfect over salad greens.
Of course I couldn’t help myself and I had to kick it up even further with lots of herbs, tomatoes and a touch of cheese. It’s really a perfect dinner. Healthy and totally soul satisfyingly delicious.
Ingredients for Grilled Lemon Chicken
- Lemons: For freshness
- Olive oil: For richness
- Dijon Mustard: For tangy goodness
- Rosemary: A piney, minty taste
- Thyme: For minty, lemony, pepper flavor
- Garlic: A rich taste, somewhat oniony
- Sea salt: Himalayan Pink Sea Salt is best. A little goes a long way
- Pepper: Just a dash for spiciness
- Chicken breasts: The star of the show
- Spinach: Packed with Vitamin K and potassium
- Arugula: Adds an additional peppery taste
- Blue Cheese: The sharp creaminess goes beautifully with this dish
- Cherry tomatoes: Vitamin K powerhouse, plus they’re beautiful
How to Make Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad
This dish goes together really fast. The only long part is having the chicken marinate in the tangy, herby sauce. But it’s worth it because that rich flavor permeates the chicken.
So to begin just whisk lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, minced rosemary, thyme and garlic along with sea salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl.
You can use dried rosemary and thyme, but the flavor won’t be quite the same. The freshness of the herbs makes all the difference. I know, I hear you. Unless you use the fresh herbs in a short amount of time they begin to turn brown and go bad. And no one wants waste.
So unless you can go into your backyard and pick fresh herbs like Ina Garten does, the second best thing is to freeze them. They will stay green and be fresh until you’re ready to use them. Not all herbs are good candidates for freezing because they get limp, but rosemary and thyme do well. Just give them a quick rinse, dry them with a paper towel, place them in a zip lock bag and freeze them.Easy and instant fresh herbs when you want them.
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To your lemon and Dijon marinade just add the chicken breasts, zip it closed and massage the marinade evenly over the chicken. Then refrigerate it for about an hour.
Then it’s time for grilling. Remove the chicken breasts from the zip lock bag and discard the marinade. I use the Cuisineart Griddler grill for a couple of reasons. It’s not only super fast, but it also leaves wonderful grill marks. It’s been my go-to grill in the Winter and actually all year long.
Just preheat the grill to high. When the light turns green, lightly spray the grill top and bottom with oil. Then add the chicken breasts, close the lid and cook for 2 minutes. Then I added a cut lemon to the grill and let the chicken and lemons cook another 2 minutes. And it’s done.
Either lightly drizzle olive oil over the salad, as I did, or add your favorite balsamic vinegar dressing. Then just place the hot grilled chicken over the salad. Squeeze the grilled lemons over all and serve.
I think you’ll find this Grilled Lemon Butter Chicken addictive!
Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 Small Lemon
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 Tsp Rosemary, fresh
- 2 Tsp Thyme, fresh
- 2 Cloves Garlic Finely minced
- 1/8 Tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 Tsp Pepper
- 2 Chicken breast cutlets
- 1 Lemon Halved
- 2 Cups Baby Spinach Rinsed and patted dry
- 2 Cups Arugula Rinsed and patted dry
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Blue Cheese Crumbles
- 1 Cup Cherry tomatoes
Instructions
- Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, rosemary, thyme, garlic, sea salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl.
- Add chicken to a gallon zip lock bag. Then pour the mustard marinade over the chicken, zip the bag tightly closed and massage the bag to evenly spread the marinade over the chicken. Place the bag in the refrigerator and allow it to marinate 1 hour.
- Heat the Griddler grill to the highest heat and spray it with oil.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade.
- Place the chicken on the hot grill and close the lid. Set your timer for 2 minutes.
- Open the lid and add the 2 lemon halves. Close the lid and allow to grill for 2 more minutes.
- Mix the spinach and arugula together and add to a large serving plate. Drizzle olive oil over the greens. Then add the blue cheese crumbles and the cherry tomatoes.
- When chicken is finished, place the two cutlets on top of the salad. Squeeze the roasted lemon over the top and serve.
Nutrition
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