Quinoa Power Salad combines quinoa, chicken, bacon, dates, and brussels sprouts to power you through the day. A craveable combination of flavors and textures!
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to throw out whatever dinner plans you had for tonight and make Quinoa Power Salad instead.
(Sorry, my oldest and I are on a MI kick…)
Say goodbye to the spaghetti you had planned, and hello to the can’t miss combination of cooked quinoa, bacon, dates (a la Bacon-Wrapped Almond-Stuffed Dates!) chicken, brussels sprouts and a few other goodies that combine to create a flavor and texture-packed meal placed firmly in “POWER SALAD” territory.
What’s Inside
Part stir fry, part salad, this dish was inspired by the Kale and Brussels Sprouts Cobb Salad I had at Ophelia’s in Denver though, as much as I liked that salad, I’m loving this one 100 times more.
As I said, cooked quinoa and mixed greens are combined with hearty toppings including chicken, dates, bacon, sauted brussels sprouts, avocado, goat cheese, and fried shallots, then tossed with a spoon-drink worthy Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette.
Not only do all these ingredients pair together perfectly, but they make each serving incredibly filling. They put the POWER in Power Salad.
Start by cooking quinoa in chicken broth until tender then fluff with a fork and set aside to cool slightly.
Quinoa is great for making ahead of time since it doesn’t harden after being refrigerated. That said, feel free to prepare it up to 3 days ahead of time.
Next add 4 strips bacon to a very large, 12″+ skillet then place it over medium heat and cook until the bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain then chop or crumble once cool enough to handle.
Pour out (but don’t throw away!) enough bacon grease to leave a light coating in the bottom of the skillet, then turn the heat up to medium-high and add chicken breasts that have been pounded thin and seasoned with garlic salt and pepper.
Saute the chicken until cooked through, 3-4 minutes a side, then transfer to the plate with the bacon. Chop the chicken once it’s cool enough to handle.
Next heat some of the reserved bacon grease into the skillet then add shredded brussels sprouts. You could of course hand-shred/slice whole brussels sprouts, but the bagged, pre-shredded sprouts saves so much time.
Season with garlic salt and pepper then saute until the brussels sprouts are tender and golden brown, 7-9 minutes. Transfer the brussels sprouts to a plate then set aside.
Last step is to add the last of the bacon fat plus enough extra virgin olive oil to equal 1/4 cup fat in the skillet. Add jumbo shallots that have been sliced into rings then fry until golden brown, 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, before transferring to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon and sprinkling with salt.
If you’ve never tried fried shallots, you are in for a TREAT! They taste like onion rings but don’t require any batter or coating. So delicious.
Last stop: assembly!
To a very large mixing bowl add mixed greens, the cooled bacon, chicken, brussels sprouts, and quinoa, plus chopped dates and avocado.
Drizzle over enough Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper) to coat then toss to combine.
Scoop the salad onto plates then top with chevre and a quarter of the fried shallots and dig in.
I hope you love this incredible, protien-packed salad that will power you through your day!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 chicken breasts, ~1lb, pounded to an even thickness
- garlic salt and pepper
- 9 oz shredded brussels sprouts
- extra virgin olive oil
- 3 jumbo shallots, sliced into thin rings then separated
- 6 oz mixed greens
- 1 avocado, diced
- 5 pitted Medjool dates, chopped
- 3 oz chèvre
For the Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Add quinoa and chicken broth to a small saucepan then bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to low then place a lid on top and simmer the quinoa until tender, 13-15 minutes. Fluff with a fork then set aside to cool slightly. Can be made several days ahead of time.
- Add bacon to a large, nonstick skillet then place over medium heat. Cook until crisp then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and chop or crumble once cool enough to handle. Pour out all but a thin layer of bacon grease, reserving the remaining bacon grease.
- Turn the heat up to medium high then season both sides of the chicken breasts with garlic salt and pepper. Add to the skillet then saute until cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to the bacon plate then chop once cool enough to handle.
- Add 2 Tablespoons reserved bacon grease (add extra virgin olive oil if needed to equal 2 Tablespoons fat) then add the brussels sprouts. Season with garlic salt and pepper then saute until golden brown and tender, 7-9 minutes. Scoop onto a plate then set aside.
- Add the remaining bacon grease plus enough extra virgin olive oil to equal 1/4 cup fat in the skillet. When fat is hot but not smoking, add half the shallot rings then pan fry until light golden brown (dark brown will taste bitter,) 1-2 minutes, stirring often and turning the heat down if necessary to prevent burning. Transfer shallots with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate to drain then sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat with second half of shallots then set aside.
- Add lettuce to a very large bowl then add cooled quinoa, bacon, chicken, brussels sprouts, avocado, and dates then drizzle with vinaigrette to taste and toss well to combine. Transfer salads to plates then top with chevre and fried shallots, and serve.
For the Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette:
- Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid or a bowl then shake or whisk to combine. Can be done several days ahead of time.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
This is on the menu for tonight. Thanks for a light recipe for a hot day. You should consider sticking with presidential names like Grant or Jackson. We have an Eli Grant in our family. Good luck with the names!
YES! You’ll have to let us know what you think! We love Eli too!
We had a hard time choosing a boy name also. My husband works in the same school district as your mom, and he was able to get a list of all the boys’ names in the district to browse through…something to consider if you haven’t already! In the end, we chose Ean (variation of Ian), a name not on the list! Good luck!
I’m seriously about to go that route! ? I’ve also been watching for Olympic athlete names that catch my eye!
I have a friend who boys names are so cute to me….Declan and Mead
Those are definitely adorable – I’ve never heard of Mead – super cute!
You had me at dates!!!!
Right?! They are a revelation in here!
Lincoln is adorable! Watch “She’s Having a Baby” as they throw out quite a few names during the credits of the movie. I am partial to more traditional names likes Christopher, Daniel and William.
I ADORE William (and would call him Will) but it’s my nephew’s middle name. :/
Our thiid boy was named
Lincoln the entire pregnancy. The night he was born – pre labor we switched to Jace. My youngest is named Wyatt Walker. While the name is common, males tend to love it. Guys comment all the time on his name. It helps his personality matches.
That’s definitely a difficult part – hoping the name you finally decide on fits the baby!
I’ve always like the names Nicholas, Mathew or Jackson for a boy. As you can tell, I like more traditional names. ;)
We do too – I think whatever we end up with will definitely be traditional.
i love salads that are so heavy they don’t resemble salads at all <3 this is GORGEOUS, Kristin, cant wait to add this to the meal plan!!! I also second your love of fall, summer is great but fall is a DREAM!
Oh it so is! Bring on the nippy mornings, football Saturdays, and EVERYTHING apple! :D
Can’t wait to make that salad. You should go with another President’s name such as Truman or Carter.
I really like Reagan but Ben’s not sold. :/
Have you considered Brecken? Goes well with Lincoln and will remind you of Breckenridge, Colorado.
Oo, I like. We have a friend with a little girl named Brecken – an adorable name.
I’m having my second baby in 8 days and we still don’t have a name! I’m hoping that when we see her face a name just comes to me. ????
Oh no!!! We’re seriously going to be in the same position! Come back and let us know what you name her, if you think about it (in several months, of course!) ;)
This salad looks so delicious and I can’t way to make it for my family! Keep up the great work! P.S. I love the name Levi! Of course I am partial that is my 13 year old sons name!
Yes, LOVE Levi!! I have a friend who named their son Levi. That’s the other big problem – a lot of names we really like, but have friends who’ve used them!
That sounds like a wonderful birthday! He is such a lucky boy :)
And I love this recipe, we are always looking for more ways to eat Brussels sprouts and the combination of those flavours sounds really nice. Have a great week!
Thanks, Vivian, you too!