THOUSAND ISLAND BROCCOLI AND CHICKEN SALAD
This salad has a slightly different flavor profile using the Thousand Island dressing. We loved it. We didn’t add bacon as we thought the Thousand Island dressing would overpower it, but we did add it later as an afterthought and turns out we were wrong. Everything is better with bacon!
I like to precook the broccoli for 2 minutes in boiling water, as my husband prefers that the broccoli is not too hard. Plenty of crispness comes from the chopped bell pepprs. Make sure your bell peppers are very fresh and crisp.
You can use rotisserie chicken and toss the chopped chicken with a light sprinkle of seasoning salt, if desired.
The Thousand Island dressing is very flavorful. You can use it as a dressing for your other salads, too. It is my opinion that homemade Thousand Island dressing tastes so much better and fresher than store-bought thousand island dressing. I actually prefer it to ranch dressing; however the same applies for homemade vs store-bought. I liked serving this salad on a large Romaine lettuce leaf; delicious and attractive presentation!
With this salad,
you are getting two for one - broccoli salad and a chicken salad. What a
healthy salad and can basically be a whole meal deal. You can add
hard-boiled egg, if desired. Place the salad in a large bowl and then
transfer to dinner plates on a large lettuce leaf. You can also serve
low-carb buns on the side, if this is going to be a meal by itself.
Cucumbers are another vegetable that goes well in Broccoli salad. If
desired, you can use Swiss cheese or Mozzarella cheese or even Monterey
Jack or Monterey Pepper Jack cheese. All are delicious choices for this
broccoli and chicken salad. I loved the addition of tomato to this
salad as it made the salad look that much more colorful and attractive,
besides adding a new taste flavor, which went particularly well with
this!
Some Broccoli Facts:
Broccoli fights cancer and has high amounts of vitamin K, C and E. It also supports heart health. Great for skin health and collagen production. The antioxidants have an anti-inflammatory effect. Also, great for eye health. Broccoli has good carbs and is high in fiber.
4 cups chopped broccoli (1 L)
4 cups cooked, chopped chicken (1 L)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2
red onion, diced small
1/2
cup cubed Cheddar cheese (125 mL)
Chopped Roma tomatoes, optional
Bacon, cooked, chopped, optional
Thousand Island Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise (250 mL)
1 cup sour cream (250 mL)
3 tbsp tomato paste (45 mL)
1 tsp dried parsley (5 mL)
1/2
tsp hot chili powder (2 mL)
1 tsp salt (5 mL)
1/2
tsp mustard (2 mL)
Liquid sweetener to equal 2 tsp sugar (10 mL)
In
boiling water, place broccoli for 2 minutes.
Drain broccoli and plunge into ice cold water to stop the cooking and
keep the broccoli florets a nice bright green.
Place
broccoli in large bowl. Add chopped
chicken, red and green bell peppers, plus the red onion.
Thousand Island Dressing: In medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour
cream, tomato paste, parsley, chili powder, salt, mustard and liquid
sweetener. Whisk to combine well.
Add
Thousand Island dressing to the bowl of chicken, broccoli and vegetables. Combine well.
Place in attractive salad bowl. Top with Cheddar cheese, Roma Tomatoes and bacon, if using. Allow to chill in the refrigerator until serving time.
Yield: 11 servings
1
cup (250 mL) per serving
313.2
calories
19.8
g protein
23.0
g fat
2.2 g fiber
5.5 g net carbs
Amish Broccoli, Chicken and Bacon Salad
Colorful Broccoli and Bell Pepper Salad
Festive Broccoli Salad in a Hurry
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Here is my Amazon store for more of my favorite products: AMAZON STORE Thank you for your support. We also make money through other affiliate partner links.
[Sneak a Peek: CLICK on any Cookbook cover below to view all the Photos/Recipes inside]