Chicken Apple Salad Pitas

Aside from the wonderful rest and joy we got while on our mini-vacation to Michigan, I also came back with a new recipe.  I can't eat lunch meat while pregnant, so Mama Kae was kind enough to have multiple options for my lunches - one of which I loved so much that I went out and bought all the ingredients to make for my lunches this week.  It's easy, healthy and delicious!

Chicken Apple Salad:

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and diced (or if you're "lazy" (or inventive, you interpret as you will), like yours truly, you can buy a precooked rotisserie chicken and cut it up.  I used about 1/3-1/2 of the chicken)

1 red bell pepper (diced)

4 green onions (thinly chopped)

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)---the can is the size of a soup can

1 granny smith apple (diced)

Put all the above ingredients in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the following (or not - I just poured them each over the chicken mixture):

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar (I used white Balsamic vinegar and it was delicious)

Red pepper flakes - amount varies depending on whether you like it hot or are whimpy

Cinnamon - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon or to taste (I forgot this altogether and just added a splash of sugar.  Yes, you can splash a dry ingredient.  Trust me.)

If using a separate mixing bowl (i.e. if you like lots of dishes), mix the four above ingredients; pour over chicken mixture and mix thoroughly. (Or just dump them in the chicken mixture one by one and stir.)



Serve over a bed of lettuce or spinach; or in a soft tortilla shell; or eat straight from the bowl with a fork or spoon, or your hands.  I won't judge.  Or you can eat it on a whole wheat pita, as I have been doing.


I just made a big batch and have left it in the work refrigerator all week.  It definitely livens up the typical brown bag lunch.


And, if you're anti-meat, just leave out the chicken, and voila, vegetarian apple bean salad.


Thanks Mama Kae for the recipe!  Lukas likes it too...