If I’m going to have a salad in the colder months, three things are imperative:

 

1. Tastes bomb
2. Has lots of fiber (usually beans)
3. Has something warm in it

I don’t inherently love salads. They often seem like a lot of work, and I’ve had many salads that left me unsatisfied.

Add to that the fact that I need more warming foods (from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective), and I have all the excuses to avoid a boring, “healthy” salad, especially during the colder months of the year.

But, something a salad can offer is the holy grail of gut health- FIBER!

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know fiber is the actual key to having healthy poops and healing your gut. You can’t get around it. Fiber feeds the probiotic bacteria in your gut with prebiotoics, making everything in there flourish and grow so that inflammation and chronic diseases dissipate and health and vitality increases.

Fiber rich foods are a must.

And salads usually have a base of greens (fiber), some additional veggies (fiber), and I nearly always add beans (the mother load of fiber).

But I’m not ok with a boring, run of the mill, pile of greens with a mediocre dressing and a few other toppings.

 

I like my fiber rich salads with a yummy protein (chicken in this case), a decedent dressing, and toppings that are fun and delicious. I also love a salad that has a warm component during the colder months, otherwise my body seems to repel it.

 

This Fiber Rich Greek Chicken Salad w/ a Homemade Dressing hits all of my requirements, and to top it off, is pretty darn easy to make. 

 

You can absolutely change things up- swap the romaine for arugula, try lamb meatballs instead of chicken, or swap out the toppings for whatever you have. You can dress this salad up however you want, just be sure you are keeping the greens, beans, and other fiber rich foods!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Fiber Rich Greek Chicken Salad w/ Homemade Dressing

Recipe Makes 4-6 Large Servings

Takes about 30 minutes

Naturally gluten free, can be made dairy free by omitting the feta.

 

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 lb chicken thighs or breasts
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

 

Salad

• 2 large heads of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
• 1/4 large red onion, diced
• 3/4 cup jarred/canned peperocinis, chopped
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, or olives of choice, sliced
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

 

Dressing

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons fresh dill
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

 

Instructions

1. Make the chicken: Heat a large pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon avocado oil. In a small bowl, mix the salt and pepper, oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder. Drizzle the other tablespoon of avocado oil on each side of the chicken and sprinkle both sides with the spice mix, using all of it. Add chicken to the hot pan, cooking on both sides until cooked to 165 degrees, about 10 minutes total depending on thickness of your chicken pieces. Set chicken to the side.
2. Prep and chop all of the “Salad” ingredients and place in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl or jar, add all of the “Dressing” ingredients. Mix well.
4. Dish up each serving of the salad and top with the dressing, tossing it well. Top it with chicken and serve!

 

XO,

Kelsey