This Kale and Roast Chicken Salad is quick, healthy, and filling enough for lunch or dinner. Pick up one of those rotisserie chickens at the grocery store and have this meal ready in the time it takes to make pasta.

It’s been a busy week here at Eat Up! Kitchen. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to show for it. I should be working on festive fare for the holidays but I’ve been working on updating this website. My blogging platform released a major update last week so that took some time to implement. Oh, there’s the recipe gallery you can check out! https://eatup.kitchen/recipe-gallery/. Use the filters on the top to narrow down the ingredients or types of food you want to view.

I’ve also been busy working on a guide for farmers’ markets in the Philly area. Keep an eye out for an announcement early next year. One last thing – if you haven’t noticed, I’ve removed all advertising from my site. I hate ads and they make things run slow. There’s still the Amazon Affiliate links which I’m able to make relevant to each article so I think they’re helpful. I might make a small percentage if you buy something.

If you’ve had a busy week of website updates and Secret Santa shopping, head to the grocery store with this list for a quick dinner;
Rotisserie Chicken
Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale
Orecchiette Pasta
Grape Tomatoes
Green Olives
Red Onion
Lemon Juice
Olive Oil

The very first thing you want to do when you get home is to bring a pot of salted water to a boil. This recipe takes no more time than it takes to cook the pasta. While the water is coming to a boil you can prep the kale. Rip the kale into small bite-size pieces and discard the inner ribs. Toss the kale into a salad spinner and give it a wash. At this point, I like to rinse and dry my salad spinner and assemble the salad in the same bowl. Add some sliced grape tomatoes, green olives, and red onion to the kale.

Is your water boiling yet? Good, add the orecchiette!

Remove the chicken from the container and set it aside on a cutting board. The container should have a tablespoon or two of juice in the bottom – we’re using that for the salad dressing! Transfer the juice to a small bowl and add the juice of half a lemon. Add salt and black pepper then whisk to combine. Now drizzle your best olive oil into the bowl as you continue to whisk and emulsify into a salad dressing.

Add half the dressing to the kale then place the salad spinner lid on top of the bowl. SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE! I love using my salad spinner to toss my salad and distribute the dressing. So easy and fewer dishes to clean. When the pasta is cooked through you can drain it into a colander and let it cool. Add the pasta to the salad and give it another, slightly less vigorous, shake to combine. Plate the salad.

I realized that the grocery store roast chicken is the best way to learn how to carve a chicken. I’ve previously written How To Butcher A Whole Chicken with some instructional photos. As with most things though, the best way to learn is by doing. Take your time when you break down a chicken for this salad. Pay attention to where the joints connect each bone. It’s the same chicken whether it’s cooked or not; all the joints are in the same places. Remove the legs, the wings, and the thighs. They’ll probably pull right off the carcass. Use a sharp chef’s knife to carve the breast meat off. Place the breast meat on a cutting board and slice to your preference. Add the carved chicken to the salad and drizzle the remaining dressing over the top.

If you’ve read this far then you’ve wasted your time. You could have made this entire meal by now. GO! Get some kale and chicken!

Kale and Roast Chicken Salad

Recipe by Anthony

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Recipes, Salads

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

This Kale and Roast Chicken Salad is quick, healthy, and filling enough for lunch or dinner. Pick up one of those rotisserie chickens at the grocery store and have this meal ready in the time it takes to make pasta.

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• 1 Cup Orecchiette Pasta

• 1 Bunch of Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale about 4 cups

• 1 Cup Grape Tomatoes

• 1 Cup Green Olives pitted

• 1/4 Red Onion, thinly sliced

• 2 Tbs Lemon Juice

• 4 Tbs Good Olive Oil

• 1 Rotisserie Chicken divided

• salt

• pepper

Directions

• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook per package instructions. While water is boiling and pasta is cooking, prep other ingredients. Drain pasta and reserve until needed.
• Rip kale into small bite-size pieces and discard the inner ribs. Transfer to salad spinner and wash thoroughly. Rince and dry salad spinner. Return kale to salad spinner bowl.
• Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise, add to bowl along with green olives and red onion.
• Make dressing by whisking lemon juice and any remaining juices from the bottom of the chicken container. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil as whisking to emulsify. Add half the dressing to the salad. Place the top of the salad spinner back on top and give the bowl a shake to distribute ingredients.
• When pasta is drained and cooled slightly, add to kale and toss again.
• Carve chicken breasts from chicken. Slice across the short width of the breast meat. Plate kale salad on serving plate. Place each carved chicken breast over salad then drizzle with remaining salad dressing.

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