Coconut Chicken Salad
Course: SaladServings
4
servingsPrep time
30
minutesCooking time
30
minutesDo you ever find yourself craving a nice refreshing salad on a hot summer’s day, only to find yourself severely let down when you do eventually tuck in? People seem to think that the only way to make a salad is with pre-packaged lettuce leaves, sliced cucumber, chopped tomato, plain, boring chicken breast, and a ridiculous amount of ranch dressing.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a well-made chicken ranch salad, but it gets me so frustrated when people get salads wrong. Salads should never be bland, yet so many of them are, and it is this reason why salads get such a bad reputation.
Like all parents, I’m always trying to find new ways of getting my kids (and my husband!) to eat healthy produce, and a salad can be the perfect way to do exactly that. My coconut chicken salad is always a winner in my household and is the perfect summer dinner and is also my go-to salad recipe when hosting or attending a BBQ or cookout.
This salad is zingy, it’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s crunchy, and it packs one heck of a coconut punch. If you’re not usually a salad fan, just wait until you try this one!
Needless to say, the star of the show in this dish is coconut. If I were allowed, I’d eat coconuts and drink coconut water every single day if I could. Not only is the honey and rice vinegar marinated chicken coated in coconut flour and coconut flakes before being fried, it’s also fried in coconut oil to really ramp up the health benefits and intensify the coconut flavour.
When making this dish at home, only use coconut oil for frying the chicken. If you can’t find it, make another dish because as far as I’m concerned, the coconut oil makes this dish and takes the crispy coconut-coated chicken to a whole new level entirely.
Coconuts are very healthy and are full of electrolytes. Some countries even use coconut water in IV drips. Because of the high sugar and electrolyte content of coconuts, coconut water can be used as a substitute for blood plasma. It’s also a great beverage to drink while exercising and is far healthier than so-called “sports drinks” with added electrolytes.
Coconut oil is also a very healthy fat, and is now considered healthier than extra virgin olive oil. Coconut oil may be high in fats and calories, but it is rich in medium chain triglycerides, or MCTs for short. Because of the medium length triglyceride chain, the body uses these fats for energy much faster than regular fats, meaning you store fewer fats as calories.
Coconut oil has been found to reduce dangerous LDL cholesterol levels and increase HDL cholesterol levels, so it is a very heart-healthy fat as well.Add to this, the nutritious veggies and other salad ingredients in this dish and you can see why it’s such a healthy salad.
When making this salad, go with a lettuce with a decent amount of crunch. Little gem, romaine, or Iceberg work very well here. Avoid thin salad leaves because once they come into contact with the lime juice they will begin to wilt.
I recommend eating this salad right away. It has a very sweet and sour taste thanks to the coconut, vinegar, and lime juice and does not taste as nice after a night in the refrigerator. The salad will also become limp and lifeless. Enjoyed freshly made however, prepare yourself for a taste explosion that’ll have you and the kids coming back for more!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a well-made chicken ranch salad, but it gets me so frustrated when people get salads wrong. Salads should never be bland, yet so many of them are, and it is this reason why salads get such a bad reputation.
Like all parents, I’m always trying to find new ways of getting my kids (and my husband!) to eat healthy produce, and a salad can be the perfect way to do exactly that. My coconut chicken salad is always a winner in my household and is the perfect summer dinner and is also my go-to salad recipe when hosting or attending a BBQ or cookout.
This salad is zingy, it’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s crunchy, and it packs one heck of a coconut punch. If you’re not usually a salad fan, just wait until you try this one!
Needless to say, the star of the show in this dish is coconut. If I were allowed, I’d eat coconuts and drink coconut water every single day if I could. Not only is the honey and rice vinegar marinated chicken coated in coconut flour and coconut flakes before being fried, it’s also fried in coconut oil to really ramp up the health benefits and intensify the coconut flavour.
When making this dish at home, only use coconut oil for frying the chicken. If you can’t find it, make another dish because as far as I’m concerned, the coconut oil makes this dish and takes the crispy coconut-coated chicken to a whole new level entirely.
Coconuts are very healthy and are full of electrolytes. Some countries even use coconut water in IV drips. Because of the high sugar and electrolyte content of coconuts, coconut water can be used as a substitute for blood plasma. It’s also a great beverage to drink while exercising and is far healthier than so-called “sports drinks” with added electrolytes.
Coconut oil is also a very healthy fat, and is now considered healthier than extra virgin olive oil. Coconut oil may be high in fats and calories, but it is rich in medium chain triglycerides, or MCTs for short. Because of the medium length triglyceride chain, the body uses these fats for energy much faster than regular fats, meaning you store fewer fats as calories.
Coconut oil has been found to reduce dangerous LDL cholesterol levels and increase HDL cholesterol levels, so it is a very heart-healthy fat as well.Add to this, the nutritious veggies and other salad ingredients in this dish and you can see why it’s such a healthy salad.
When making this salad, go with a lettuce with a decent amount of crunch. Little gem, romaine, or Iceberg work very well here. Avoid thin salad leaves because once they come into contact with the lime juice they will begin to wilt.
I recommend eating this salad right away. It has a very sweet and sour taste thanks to the coconut, vinegar, and lime juice and does not taste as nice after a night in the refrigerator. The salad will also become limp and lifeless. Enjoyed freshly made however, prepare yourself for a taste explosion that’ll have you and the kids coming back for more!
Ingredients
200 g (7.1 oz) lettuce
4 radishes, chopped
Half a red onion, chopped
1 sliced cucumber
1 egg
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp rice vinegar
100 g (3.5 oz) coconut flakes
100 g (3.5 oz) coconut flour
1 tbsp honey
350 g (12.5 oz) chicken
Coconut oil for sautéing
Directions
- Mix honey and vinegar until honey dissolves. Add half a teaspoon of salt.
- Add chicken to this mixture and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Separate the white from the yolk. We don’t need yolk in this recipe.
- Put coconut flakes to a plate, then get the flour to another plate. Combine the egg white with 30 ml (1 fl oz) of water and beat with a fork.
- First, dip the chicken in the coconut flour, then in the egg white, and finally in the flaked coconut. Do this with all chicken pieces.
- Saute chicken over medium heat in coconut oil until golden brown. Put the prepared chicken aside
- In a large bowl, mix vegetables with lime juice. Add salt.
- Cut the chicken into chunks and add to the vegetables.
