Smoked Chicken Salad with Fresh Veggies and Mozzarella

A bright festive appetizer with a mood — for any table! A salad with smoked breast, tomatoes, cheese and cucumbers will immediately become a favorite among other dishes in your home. It has everything: crispy fresh vegetables, tender mozzarella and hearty smoked chicken. With a luxurious Italian-style dressing!
cook time: 45 min
Noah Merrick
Smoked Chicken Salad with Fresh Veggies and Mozzarella

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

106
Calories
7g
Fat
3g
Carbs
7g
Protein

Ingredients (4 portions)

Basic:

Smoked chicken 300 g
Tomatoes 250 g
Lettuce leaves 200 g
Mozzarella 100 g
Olives 80 g
bell pepper 1 pc
Onion 1 pc
cucumbers 1 pc
Basil 10 g
White wine vinegar 2 tbsp

Refueling:

Sugar 1 tsp
Olive oil 50 ml
Garlic 1 clove
Basil 3 g
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Mustard 0.5 tsp
Oregano dry 0.5 tsp
Pepper to taste
Sea salt to taste

Recipe instructions

Step 1

Step 1
How to make a delicious salad with smoked breast, tomatoes, cheese and cucumbers? Very simple! To begin, prepare the necessary ingredients according to the list. You can use regular or cherry tomatoes. I have small Baku tomatoes — they are larger than cherry tomatoes, but smaller than regular tomatoes. You can add or replace the vegetable part to your liking.

Step 2

Step 2
Peel the red onion and cut into thin rings or half rings. Marinate the onion in a mixture of vinegar and sugar for 20 minutes. Then drain the marinade. You can use any vinegar — I used white wine vinegar, but apple, red wine or regular table vinegar 9% will do.

Step 3

Step 3
Remove skin and bones from the smoked breast and cut into thin slices. You can replace the breast with meat from smoked legs.

Step 4

Step 4
Cut the tomatoes into slices. If you have cherry tomatoes, use halves. Tomatoes need to be juicy but firm. Soft fruits do not hold their shape well; during cutting and cooking, they will spread into a shapeless mass and spoil the appearance of the dish.

Step 5

Step 5
Cut the cucumbers into semicircles or, if they are small in diameter, into circles.

Step 6

Step 6
Peel the bell pepper from seeds and stems and cut into strips.

Step 7

Step 7
Remove the olives and mozzarella from the brine and dry. You can use any cheese for the salad that you like: hard cheese like Russian or Gouda, soft cheese like curd, processed or feta. Since my salad has Italian dressing, I decided to make the whole salad Italian style, so I chose brined mozzarella balls.

Step 8

Step 8
Dry the lettuce leaves. Tear the lettuce leaves into smaller pieces with your hands. I have a regular Moscow salad. You can replace it with a ready-made mixture of lettuce leaves.

Step 9

Step 9
Wash the basil and remove the leaves from the branches.

Step 10

Step 10
Now prepare the Italian dressing. Olive oil is usually used for it, but any vegetable oil will do. Mustard — Dijon or grainy, as you prefer. Usually add 1 tbsp to the dressing. l. white or red wine vinegar, but it already contains pickled onions in vinegar. Thatʼs why I didnʼt add vinegar to the dressing.

Step 11

Step 11
Finely chop the basil. If you donʼt have fresh basil, substitute dried basil. And for fresh herbs, take parsley. If you find fresh oregano, that’s great, then you don’t have to take dried one. A salad always tastes better with fresh herbs than with dried ones.

Step 12

Step 12
In a bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, pressed garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Beat everything thoroughly with a fork until smooth.

Step 13

Step 13
Place lettuce leaves on a plate. Top with smoked chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, cheese, red onion and olives. Sprinkle everything with fresh basil leaves.

Step 14

Step 14
Drizzle Italian dressing over salad and serve immediately. Bon appetit!

Additional rubrics

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