Blueberry, Avocado and Chicken Salad with Grapefruit Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 large head of lettuce preferably Romaine or leaf lettuce, washed,dried and chopped
- OR one 8-12 oz bag of Spring mix or Spinach about 15 cups total greens
- 1 pint of blueberries washed
- 1-2 avocados cut into chunks or sliced
- 2 cups chicken breast meat cooked and cut into chunks
- 1 cup dried apricots sliced
- 1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or Blue cheese crumbled
- 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds salted or unsalted
for dressing:
- 3/4 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
- 1/2 cup white or golden balsamic vinegar
- 2 cups light olive oil or canola oil*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup green onion white part only
- 1/4 cup honey or sugar more or less to taste
Instructions
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Place the lettuce in a large bowl. Toss with remaining ingredients, reserving some of each of the ingredients for topping the salad for presentation.
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Make the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in blender until green onions are smooth.
-
Drizzle dressing on top of salad or dress the salads individually.
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Refrigerate any leftovers.
Recipe Notes
-This salad may be made ahead and all of the individual ingredients stored in Ziplock bags until ready to serve. Do not cut the avocados until ready to serve. -For serving, reserve some of the ingredients and place on top of the salad after tossing the rest of the ingredients together in bowl. Drizzle dressing on top. -If you are doubling the salad, one recipe of the dressing will cover a double or triple batch of salad.-If you need to cut the avocados early, toss them with some lemon juice and a bit of the dressing and seal with plastic wrap pressed next to the avocado in a bowl or ziplock bag without smashing the avocado. Pressing all of the air out and tossing with something acidic will prevent the avocado from browning! Make sure to refrigerate.- I used a mixture of Butter lettuce and Spring Mix in the salad photographed, which I love, but don='t recommend if you're going to let the salad sit in the fridge for a while. Butter lettuce is wonderful, but very tender and doesn't hold up well if it has to sit for very long, refrigerated or unrefrigerated! Romaine or other bagged lettuces which have been spun very dry that are pre packaged work well if you have to let the salad sit for a while on a buffet table.