Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken and Summer Vegetable Salad
Something magical happens when you cook things on the grill. The char from the flames creates a layer of flavor that just screams summer. I looooove summer food and this salad is a great marriage of all the things I love about it. Grilled chicken that has that smokey grilled flavor I just gushed over and then sweet summer produce like tomatoes and corn, mix all that together and it’s a match made in heaven.
The key to a good salad is to make sure there are different textures and flavors so that it’s not boring, and a balance of flavors so that it actually tastes good. Salads get a bad rep because they are healthy, but when everything is cooked in a way that brings out the best flavor of each item then that healthy food tastes so delicious that you will be craving salad….yup, I said it!
Tips for Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken and Summer Vegetable Salad
Don’t skip the step of pounding the chicken. This helps it cook more evenly AND faster. Also, I don’t know that this is a fact or not, but I feel like it soaks in the flavors of the marinade better when it’s pounded out as well.
If you do not have a meat mallet, you can use a rolling pin or skillet to pound the chicken flat. I have done both in the past and they both work. If you are considering getting a meat mallet, I highly recommend it! I’m surprised at how often I use it for things that aren’t even meat like nuts, ice, etc.
Give the chicken at least 20 minutes to marinate. I’m sure you could do this overnight but I feel like it breaks the chicken down too much so I like to do it the same day. Even a couple hours is good.
Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken and Summer Vegetable Salad
Ingredients for the chicken:
1 ziplock bag
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon + the zest
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
About 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 heaping teaspoon salt
Ingredients for the salad:
2-3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup cooked quinoa or rice
1 large avocado
2 ears of grilled corn, and cut off the cob
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 lemon
How to make Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken and Summer Vegetable Salad From Scratch
Place the chicken in the ziplock bag, squeeze out any air and seal. Then, use a meat mallet to pound the chicken so that it’s an even thickness throughout.
Add in the zest of 1 lemon plus the juice of the lemon into the bag. Add in the garlic, herbs, mustard, honey, olive oil and salt.
Press any air out of the bag and reseal it. Use your hands to mix everything together by smooshing it around in the bag.
Allow the chicken to marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to a couple hours.
Prep the grill as needed with oil (depending on your grill) and heat the grill to a medium/high heat. Place the chicken onto the grill and cook for a few minutes on each side until nicely grilled with a good char.
Once the chicken in cooked through, place it on a plate for a few minutes so that the juices inside the chicken settle before cutting.
If serving whole, squeeze some fresh lemon over the chicken and a sprinkle of sea salt and serve. If adding to the salad, cut the chicken into slices and squeeze the lemon and sea salt over the cut slices.
Assemble the salad:
Place the spinach onto a platter and top with the quinoa.
Layer the other ingredients over the spinach and top with the crumbled feta, a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of sea salt, a few twists of freshly cracked pepper, and a squeeze of some fresh lemon juice and serve!
