Spring Chicken & Blue Cheese Salad

From EatingWell: March/April 2008 — Subscribe Now!

This main-dish chicken salad has bright flavors of tarragon in a creamy blue cheese dressing with just a touch of sweetness from honey.

READER'S COMMENT:

"This salad is delicious. We had to omit the walnuts due to a nut allergy and we use Feta cheese as well instead of the blue cheese. This is permanently added to my menu! My kids loved the flavor of the chicken as well. "

Spring Chicken & Blue Cheese Salad Recipe

4 servings

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Nutrition Profile

Ingredients

1 cup nonfat Greek-style yogurt, (see Shopping Tip)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 tablespoon dried
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 head butterhead lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1/2 head radicchio, cored and very thinly sliced
1 cup baby arugula, or mixed baby greens
Creamy Blue Cheese-Tarragon Dressing, (recipe follows)
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted (see Tip) and chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine yogurt, garlic, oil and tarragon in a large bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the bowl; turn to coat. Place the chicken in a baking dish and cover completely with the yogurt mixture.
Bake until the chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165°F, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a clean cutting board. Thinly slice the chicken when cool enough to handle.
Gently toss lettuce, radicchio and arugula (or mixed greens) in a large bowl. Divide the greens among 4 plates, top with equal portions of the chicken, spoon 2 tablespoons Creamy Blue Cheese-Tarragon Dressing over each salad and sprinkle with walnuts.

Tips & Notes

Shopping tip: Thick and creamy Greek-style yogurt is made by removing the whey from cultured milk. Because the whey has been removed, you can cook with Greek-style yogurt without the normal separation that occurs when cooking with regular yogurt. Both can be used in this recipe, but we recommend using Greek yogurt if it's available at your supermarket.
Tip: Spread whole walnuts on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F, stirring once, until fragrant, 7 to 9 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving: 418 calories; 29 g fat (6 g sat, 14 g mono); 74 mg cholesterol; 10 g carbohydrates; 30 g protein; 2 g fiber; 494 mg sodium; 441 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (40% daily value), Selenium (33% dv), Folate (17% dv), Calcium (15% dv).

1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1/2 non-fat milk, 3 lean meat, 4 fat