Grilled Caesar Chicken Salad with Low Sodium Balsamic Vinaigrette
Sometimes all you need are a few easy ingredients and one bomb protein to make a dish! This is one of the easiest meal prep dishes we have made and the varieties are endless!
Ingredients:
Freshly chopped lettuce, or pre-washed salad in a bag (enough for 8 meals)
16 chicken tenderloins or 4 chicken breasts quartered
1 cup Caesar Dressing of choice (we used the Simply Dressed brand)
16 Tbsp (or 8 portions) of Low Sodium Balsamic Vinaigrette (we used the Panera brand)
Olive oil
Lemon Juice
Worcestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
Recipe:
Marinade:
1) Place chicken in a large container and add in the olive oil, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper. Mix it all up and really get the pieces of chicken coated.
2) Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
Grilling:
1) I am not about to tell you every little thing to do for the grilling because each grill and grilling scenario is different. Listen to your grill, or grill apparatus, and make sure it is on medium-high heat. You want to go for grill marks without burning, and you are going to be turning every ~2-3 minutes, so keep that in mind.
2) Place the chicken on the grill, leaving an inch or two between each piece. You should hear a good sizzle when you place it down, but if you don’t, TAKE THE CHICKEN OFF THE GRILL! If you do hear the sizzle, GOOD, and cook it on that side for 2-3 minutes.
3) Turn the chicken over after 2-3 minutes, or until grill marks have formed. You are going to repeat this process two more times to ensure the chicken is cooked through properly.
4) After turning and cooking the chicken on both sides twice, check the temperature with a meat thermometer and make sure it registers at 165°F. If you are a less than 5 degrees away, you can pull it off and place in a pan that you can cover with foil for 10 minutes.
5) Make sure you rest your meat! Pretty much all of the animal proteins we eat are muscles. When they heat up, they contract, which is how we know it is cooked, but they will release a little and become tender if you let the meat chill out for a few minutes.
6) After the 10 minutes, slice the chicken in ~1 inch pieces and set aside in a mixing bowl.
7) In the mixing bowl, add the caesar dressing and mix to combine.
Assembly:
For this, separate everything into equal portions and begin your assembly. Aim for two chicken tenderloins worth, but the eyeball test is the best when going for uniform meals. If one looks a little low on lettuce or dressing, now is the time to adjust it, or you will notice when you get to the office that today’s lunch is a little too light, or way too heavy.
This meal is great when you do not have a ton of prep time, or just want something fresh and healthy with a little twist on it. Play around with the dressings and marinades if you want. We did not add too many seasonings and went light on the sodium because the dressings are packed with a ton of flavor and the seasoning on the chicken is the one place you can control the amount of sodium in the meal.
Enjoy!