Tonight, I prepared a meal that is a little bit lighter than usual. I saw this in an issue of Cooking Light magazine and modified the ingredients to my families taste. For example, I substituted provolone cheese for goat cheese, knowing my family would prefer that.

I chose this recipe because it seemed fast, easy and healthy. I am usually right with my assessments. Not this time! It was easy and healthy, but it took much longer to prepare than I had anticipated. Give yourself time to prepare this one. Cooking and shredding the chicken takes time. 

It was worth it! The result was delicious and my family loved it! The dressing was delicate and gave the salad just the right flavor. The quinoa added a nice texture. I hope you try this one!

Ingredients for the Salad

2 cups diagonally cut carrots (sliced thin)
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt plus another 1/2 set aside for the dressing
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups shredded skinless boneless chicken breast
1/2 pound provolone cheese
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Ingredients for the Dressing

5 tbsp. plain reduced fat greek yogurt
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp honey
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine yogurt, salt, lemon juice, honey, cumin and pepper into a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450.

Combine carrots, oil and 1/2 tsp. salt and toss.

Lay out onto flat baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Place in oven for 15 minutes until tender. Set timer! If they brown and carmalize, even better!

Lower oven heat to 350. 

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Place in oven for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of each breast. Set your timer! Reset timer for 5 minutes increments if they are not fully cooked until they are ready to come out. Remember they will continue to cook when you remove them from the oven, so allow time for that or you will have overcooked chicken breasts!

When they have cooled, shred chicken into small pieces.

Cook quinoa according to package directions. allow it time to cool.

Todays hint: When you are washing any kind of salad greens, put them into a bowl filled with cold water and a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Let them sit for a while. All of the dirt will fall down to the bottom of the bowl. Gently lift greens out of bowl. Rinse them one more time under water. Set greens on paper towels and gently roll the greens up in the towel to dry. Make sure you dry the salad greens well because any wet ingredient in a salad will make it soggy!

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl.

Dish out each serving separately, and add a small amount of dressing to each dish.

Now this may have taken some time as I said, but it was worth it!

Enjoy!

It’s that simple! Phew!