Chicken & Roasted Broccoli Salad with Goat Cheese
One day when my husband was out of town I had a hankering for roasted broccoli. I know, weird. That’s proof that roasting vegetables does magical things to them. I wanted something more substantial than that for a meal, though. Armed with my favorite recipe for roasted broccoli, I dug out a red bell pepper, some cooked shredded chicken, and a bit of goat cheese and decided to flesh it out a bit. And this roasted broccoli salad was born.
I loved it. My kids, however, wouldn’t touch it. Getting them to eat broccoli is hit and miss. Mostly miss.
It’s good warm as well as straight out of the fridge, and I love that it’s completely grain-free. It’s filling, but you don’t slip into a food coma afterwards. That tends to happen when I eat a lot of grains or starches during a meal. Does that happen to you, too?
Chicken and Roasted Broccoli Salad with Goat Cheese
Not all salads are made of lettuce! Roasted broccoli is such a fun and unexpected base for a salad.
Ingredients
- For the roasted broccoli and pepper:
- 1 large head of broccoli (about 1 3/4 lbs), cut into 1-2 inch florets
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
- For the rest of the salad:
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
- a couple pinches of crushed red pepper flakes
- pinch of dried oregano
- juice from 1/2 a lemon (about 2 Tablespoons), plus additional lemon wedges for garnish
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 3-4 ounces of goat cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- To prepare the broccoli: Heat oven to 500 degrees and place a sturdy baking sheet on the lowest rack.
- Place broccoli florets and peppers slices in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Working quickly, remove baking sheet from the oven and spread broccoli and peppers into an even layer, placing the florets cut-side down when possible. Return to bottom rack of the oven and roast 10-12 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through and there are caramelized spots scattered throughout. Be sure not to cook until the tips of the florets turn black.
- To prepare the rest of the salad: Heat 2 T olive oil, sliced garlic, and pepper flakes in a small skillet over med-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft and begins to turn golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add chicken to the skillet and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes. Remove chicken-garlic mixture from heat; stir in oregano and lemon juice.
- Toss roasted vegetables with the chicken-garlic mixture and an additional 2 T of olive oil in a large salad bowl. Gently fold in the goat cheese crumbles and serve immediately with lemon wedges.
I LOVE broccoli, so I'm sure I would eat this salad up. I really like salads that aren't just lettuce.
I gave up meat for lent, but I bet this would be good with quinoa in it instead. I definitely don't have any problem with grains or starches, but meat and sugar are sometimes problematic in large quantities…
Thanks for the recipe!
Yes! I have some questionably old broccoli and leftover goat cheese (from that yummy yummy goat cheese pasta of yours!), how perfect for a date night in tonight!
Nick & Lauren – I agree. I love green salads, but salads like this always fill me up longer. :)
Michaela – Yum! I think quinoa would be great in this.
Kristi – It's a sign! :)
This sounds great! I never would have thought to put roasted broccoli in a salad, but it sounds great… especially with that goat cheese!
This is so super crazy veggie-full! Love that. I do love my carbs but sometimes it's nice to go a meal without them.
This looks super yummy! I am always looking for new ways to incorporate broccoli.
This looks so yummy! I love roasted broccoli and those juicy red pepper strips look so flavorful!
Mmm, I can see how that would be great served cold. Great idea.
Yes, it happens to me too! I'm trying to lay off the carbs a lot these days because they seem to be everywhere in my diet. I love broccoli, especially roasted. Yum.
I think this will be a great post workout meal for us tomorrow. Sounds delicious!
I just stumbled across your blog – I love your photography! This salad sounds scrumptious.
Loved it! I use a Costco chicken (that's how I roll on weekends ;) next time I'm going to throw in toasted pine nuts for kicks and giggles. Thank you!
i just made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! i absolutely love it! thank you for the recipe :)