This Healthy Salad Is The Perfect Way To Use Leftovers

Republished with permission of VeloPress from Feed Zone Table by Biju Thomas and Dr. Allen Lim. velopress.com

The new cookbook Feed Zone Table: Family-Style Meals to Nourish Life and Sport includes great ideas for athletes who love to share their eats.  This recipe is perfect for a midday meal.

This is a great last-minute salad to make use of leftover chicken. You can change it up throughout the year to include the most colorful vegetables you can find. The star of the dish is the flash-pickled onions and radishes. The combination of the vinegar, sugar and salt balances out the strong flavors beautifully.

Chopped Chicken Salad With Pickled Onion
Serves 4–6

2 cups roasted chicken, shredded or chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
Splash of olive oil
½ head of purple cabbage, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped dates, figs or your favorite dried fruit
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro or parsley, coarsely chopped
Picked Onions (recipe follows)
Juice from 1 lemon
Drizzle of maple syrup
Sprinkle of coarse salt

Sprinkle roasted chicken with some salt and pepper, then set aside. In a small pan, sauté garbanzo beans in a splash of olive oil at medium heat until slightly crisp. In a large bowl, mix together chicken, cabbage, garbanzo beans, dates and herbs. Add pickled onions and toss to combine. Transfer to a large platter and finish with fresh-squeezed lemon juice, a hint of maple syrup and salt.

Pickled Onions
½ cup sliced red onion
4 radishes, sliced thin
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ tsp. coarse sugar
½ tsp. coarse salt
¼ tsp. pepper

Combine red onion and radishes with red wine vinegar, coarse sugar and salt, and pepper. Toss together and let sit for 5 minutes.