Spring Trifle Salad with Chicken and Israeli Couscous
Serves 8-10 as side dish or 4-6 as main dish
Salad Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, roasted and shredded
3-4 cups fresh spinach (stems removed)
1 cup dried cranberries
5 oz dry Israeli couscous (about 6 cups cooked)
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 Bartlet pears, diced
Candied walnuts (we used the Salad Topper blend from Costco)
Gorgonzola or feta cheese (optional)
Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup avocado oil
1 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp stone ground Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
Directions:
Place all ingredients for vinaigrette in blender or Cuisinart and blend well. Set aside.
If chicken breasts are already cooked, skip this step. If you have raw chicken, place the breasts on a cookie sheet lined parchment. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Cook in a preheated 350 oven for 20-25 minutes ensuring not to overcook so they don’t dry out. Using two forks, shred and set aside. Note, if you have a kitchenaid, you can also add the cooked chicken breasts to the mixing bowl and shred on low using the whisk attachment.
Heat chicken broth on high in medium saucepan. Once boiling, add couscous and turn heat to low. Cover saucepan and cook until liquid is absorbed.
Assemble all ingredients to prepare trifle. First, layer spinach on bottom (about 3/4 cups). Top with 1 1/2 cups cooked couscous. Note that warm couscous will slightly soften the spinach. Top with cooked chicken (about 1 cooked breast). Layer 1/4 of diced pears. Layer 1/4 cup dried cranberries. Drizzle 1-2 Tbsp vinaigrette. Repeat layers 4 times total.
Top layered trifle with candied nuts or salad topper mixture (about 1/2 cup). Optional to add Gorgonzola or feta cheese crumbles.