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 was a fantastic fall salad! Loved the flavor of the shallots and brussel sprouts. The added quinoa was an extra protein punch (that even my husband didn’t mind, who usually hates quinoa!) Instead of chicken we had hard boiled eggs chopped up and also threw on some craisins. So good I’m planning on making it for Thanksgiving! Thanks for the recipe!
I can’t wait to make this tomorrow! I have made many of your salads, and they are all delicious! By the way, the dish you are using in the photo, I saw it the other day online, and wanted to buy one, but now I can’t remember which site it was on lol. By any chance do you recall where you purchased it? Thanks!
I think I got it at Pier 1 – if you can’t find it there check Target!
This salad is definitely my new favorite brussels sprout creation!! Made it today for family at lunch and we all DEVOURED it!! So many delicious flavor bombs in every bite! I see myself making this a lot in the coming weeks!
That’s awesome, Tracy!! Thanks so much for letting me know! :D
This was delicious!! I’ve eaten in twice this week.
Love to hear that, Jessica! Thank you so much for the feedback!
Between the dates, bacon and goat cheese I was salivating reading this post. Adding it to my list of must-try recipes!
so good! Made last night. Delicious combo
This salad sounds epic, and the photos are stunning, you make me want to pick up that fork and dig in! :-D
Just had to tell you that I made this incredible salad for dinner last night unsure what my boyfriend would think of it. After he nearly licked his plate clean, he told me, “We’re definitely having this again!” ☺️ Winning recipe. Thank you!!
YES, that is awesome! Thanks for letting me know, Caitlin!
OMG! I CANNOT wait to make this! All of my favorite flavors in one salad! YIPPEE!!
I fed this to my family last night – we had our first day of school yesterday and everybody was tired and hungry – all three of my kids and my hubby loved this dish and ate it up quick! It is full of veggies (win for mom) and the flavors were awesome! Thanks for another great recipe!
Love that the kids ate it up! Total Mom win! ;)
I made this tonight and my whole family loved it! My mom (an elementary school teacher) gave it an A++ :). Thanks so much for this recipe Kristin!
So glad Mom approved too – that is awesome! Thanks for the feedback, Kristi!
We just had our 2nd baby 2 days ago, luckily she was a girl or she wouldn’t have a name yet. I saw you like traditional names so mine pry won’t make your list but our son is Cash and now we have baby Cadence. Good luck, I’m not sure why boys names are so tough!!
Congratulations, Mama!! Love BOTH the names you chose!
Have you tried using the Nameberry website? You can ask for suggestions based on names you like – so you could type in Lincoln and it’d give you other suggestions like it. I found it really helpful in my third pregnancy. We had an easy time picking out a girl name, but such a hard time coming up with a boys name!
No I haven’t – I will check that out though!