Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope it’s not too cold wherever you’re at reading this. Yesterday it was 5º in Chicago and one of those days where even putting your hands in your pockets doesn’t help you stay warm. Am I the only one who continuously loses gloves religiously?
After coming home from almost turning into an ice pop, I decided to make this chicken salad for the week. Since today is my first day back to classes, I figured what better way to start the year off strong than with a packed lunch. The past week I’ve really been neglecting my diet and kind of just feeding my body whatever is around my kitchen, not putting thought or time into my meals and it has been slowly but surely catching up to me. This past Friday I definitely did not eat enough because I was just running around the city, at work and attempted to go work out at night which ended in such extreme exhaustion and dehydration. No bueno! I ended up having this long talk with my mom (aren’t those the best?) about meal prepping and actually preparing a variety of meals that aren’t just roasted veggies and turkey sandwiches (although I do love those).
This weekend, I spent a LOT of my free time inside staying warm and watching the Food Network. Guilty pleasure. One of the shows I was watching featured a greek yogurt-based chicken salad. After hearing the chef say “greek yogurt chicken salad” I zoned out on the other ingredients and headed straight to the store. While I’m sure this isn’t a new idea to many of you… subbing out mayo for greek yogurt… I’m here to show you how to do it the right and easiest way – with organic greek yogurt, without those nasty chemical additives AND an extra pinch of cashews for crunch, protein and healthy fats. Deeee-lish!
World meet my crunchy cashew chicken salad. Crunchy cashew chicken salad meet the world of chickpea readers.
This big bowl of creamy goodness comes can be prepared in under 30 minutes and requires no cook time whatsoever. As a college student trying to meal prep for the week, that is music to my ears.
- 2 cups of shredded chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken pre-cooked)
- 1 cup of sliced red grapes
- 3 long celery stalks, cut into ½ inch slices
- ½ cup finely chopped cashews
- 1 6oz. container of plain greek yogurt (I used Wallaby Organic non-fat)
- 1 cup of arugula
- Himalayan sea salt and pepper to taste
- Begin by shredding and portioning your chicken followed by slicing your grapes, cashews and celery stalks.
- Dump each ingredient into a large bowl and combine with greek yogurt until well blended.
- Add salt and pepper to your liking, mix and top on your favorite greens. I love arugula for this dish!
- Enjoy 🙂
While I used Wallaby Organic non-fat greek yogurt for this, I’m dying to try it with 2% and 4% fat and you can too! I love using organic greek yogurt as it uses higher quality ingredients and rBGH-free dairy. As for the grapes, I buy a large bag, use 1/3 of it roughly and then freeze the rest! Grapes are my favorite snack when I’m craving something sweet but not that hungry for a meal.
I love pairing this with some quinoa or lentils if I’m in the mood for a heavier dish and it definitely wouldn’t be too bad smushed between two pieces of my favorite sprouted bread. Quite the versatile meal!
Happy eating!
This post was not sponsored and all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for reading Chickpea in the City!
