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Copycat Apple Chicken Salad

Copycat Apple Chicken Salad
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The following recipe and photography were provided by our partner, Kayla Breeden Falconer of Kayla’s Kitch and Fix.

If you’ve ever had the Apple Fuji Salad from Panera Bread and loved it, you have to try this homemade Apple Salad. It’s made using simple, real food ingredients that will fuel your day and have you feeling great.

What’s better is that it features less sugar, fits seamlessly into a gluten free diet and can be adjusted to meet paleo and vegetarian preferences as well.

Copycat Apple Chicken Salad

If you’re in a pinch, you can simply forgo making your own apple chips, vinaigrette and toasted nuts and buy the premade options available at your local Heinen’s.

Copycat Apple Chicken Salad

Copycat Apple Chicken Salad

Ingredients

For the Apple Chips

  • 2 Pink Lady apples, sliced thin

For the Apple Vinaigrette

  • 1/2 cup 100% apple juice
  • 1/4 cup Heinen’s extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp. Heinen’s garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp Heinen’s onion powder
  • 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. Heinen’s raw honey
  • A squeeze of fresh lemon
  • A pinch salt

For the Toasted Nuts

  • 2 cups nuts of choice such as 1 cup pecans + 1 cup walnuts
  • 2 Tbsp. apple vinaigrette (recipe above)

For the Chicken

  • 1 ½ - 2 lbs. Gerber’s CARE Certified chicken breasts
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp. Heinen’s dried basil
  • 1 tsp. Heinen’s onion powder
  • 1 tsp. Heinen’s garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Heinen’s paprika
  • 1 tsp. salt

For the Salad

  • Heinen’s spring mix
  • Red onion, sliced thin
  • Vine tomatoes, halved
  • Grilled chicken (optional, leave out if vegetarian)
  • Apple chips
  • Toasted nuts
  • Gorgonzola cheese or goat cheese (leave out if paleo/dairy free)
  • Apple vinaigrette

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 225°F.
  2. Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar. Cover with a lid and shake vigorously to combine. If at any point the ingredients separate, simply re-shake the jar.
  3. Slice the apples using a mandolin and spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  4. Bake the apples for one hour on each side, 2 hours total.
  5. Mix together the nuts and 2 Tbsp. of the apple vinaigrette.
  6. Space out the nuts on a parchment-lined baking sheet and add to the oven with the apples for 15-20 minutes, checking often to ensure they don’t burn.
  7. Combine the chicken ingredients in a shallow bowl, then coat each chicken breast until covered evenly.
  8. Cook the chicken using your preferred method and slice thin once cooked through.
  9. When the nuts, apple chips and chicken are all cooked, assemble the salad using all of the prepared ingredients and preferred toppings.

Copycat Apple Chicken Salad

Heinen's Grocery Store

By Heinen's Grocery Store

In 1929, Joe Heinen opened the doors of a small butcher shop on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, aiming to establish himself as the city’s purveyor of quality meats. As customers came into Heinen’s new shop for their meat purchases, they began asking him to carry groceries as well. Joe added homemade peanut butter, pickles and donuts and by 1933, business had grown enough to include a line of produce and canned goods. Heinen’s Grocery Store was born.

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