Kale Panzanella Salad with Chicken! Vibrant, filling and delicious with chicken, pickled red onions and super flavorful bread pieces! We hope you try the recipe!
Hello friends! Happy Friday! If you’re here because you watched my video, thank you! Before we start I wanted to address something. Lately the number of “I can’t find the recipe” or “Why don’t you leave the recipe in the caption? Why do we have to go to your website?” questions has me thinking I need to explain this again.
First off, I want to ensure everyone makes my recipes successfully. I know these recipes aren’t rocket science but lots of times I include recipe notes or I want to explain something so driving you to the recipe is my main goal. Secondly, this is my business, the way I make my income. I love creating and sharing recipes and – for the most part- this is the main way I make money. When people actually go to my website for the recipe. I think this is a win win for us both. You can get an actual recipe and make the recipe.
How To Find My Recipes
You can always to go my website, hipfoodiemom.com, for any recipe. If it’s not on my homepage, simply go to the search bar and type in the recipe name. I’e worked really hard to create and maintain this website and I have over 1,000 recipes here.
If you’re coming from Instagram:
This is my homepage. Here are the clickable links. Instagram allows more than one link. I have 3. You simply tap the linktr.ee link and then it shows you all of my clickable links. From there, tap on “My Recipes!” and it will take you to the last image, there simply find what recipe you are searching for and tap it.
Ok, I hope that helped! On to the recipe!
Kale Panzanella Salad with Chicken
I’m calling this a panzanella because of the bread. Panzanella originates from Italy and is a Tuscan chopped salad of soaked stale bread, onions and tomatoes that is popular in the summer. It often includes cucumbers, sometimes basil and is dressed with olive oil and vinegar. Click here for a Classic Panzanella salad recipe.
This salad is soooooo delicious! This is my favorite way to use up stale bread, I hope you try it!
Kale Panzanella Salad with Chicken
Ingredients
For the bread cubes:
- 1/2 Italian baguette* I prefer using stale bread, cubed
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin + more if needed
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic minced
- parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Dijon vinaigrette:
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider or red wine vinegar
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup good quality olive oil extra virgin
- salt and pepper to taste
For the salad:
- 3 to 4 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil split
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 to 5 cups kale chopped
- 1 small lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Honey crisp apple chopped or sliced thin
- pickled red onions** chopped
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup pecans chopped for garnish
- Parmesan cheese freshly grated for garnish, optional
Instructions
For the bread cubes:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prep a baking sheet with some parchment paper (if desired). Using a large bowl, mix the bread cubes with the olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper.
- Once well coated with everything, place the bread cubes in an even layer on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until crisp and firm but not too browned. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the Dijon vinaigrette:
- Add the Dijon mustard to your bowl or a mason jar, add the apple cider vinegar and slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
For the salad:
- While the bread cubes are in the oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil in a pan or skillet over medium high heat. After a minute or 2, add the chicken breasts and pan fry on each side until browned and cooked through and registers 165 °F. I like to cover my pan with a lid while cooking. When finished, remove from the heat and let rest for a few minutes before cutting into cubes or chunks.
- While the chicken is cooking: place the chopped kale into a bowl and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice from 1 lemon and season with salt and pepper. Massage with your hands and set aside. Massaging the kale softens it and allows for all the olive oil and lemon to flavor it and just makes it more tasty!
- To assemble: using a large salad plate or platter (or you can just assemble individual bowls if you want), lay in the kale, top with the cooked chicken breast, chopped apple chucks, the pickled red onions, pecans and the bread cubes. Lightly drizzle the Dijon vinaigrette over the top (as little or as much as you want) and toss everything together. Feel free to garnish with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
I’m calling this a panzanella because of the bread. Panzanella originates from Italy and is a Tuscan chopped salad of soaked stale bread, onions and tomatoes that is popular in the summer. It often includes cucumbers, sometimes basil and is dressed with olive oil and vinegar. Click here for a Classic Panzanella salad recipe.
This salad is soooooo delicious! This is my favorite way to use up stale bread, I hope you try it!
I adore all your recipes and the care you use presenting them. I enjoy going to your website to get the recipes.