This Balsamic Glazed Chicken Salad combines succulent chicken breasts with garden greens, feta cheese, fresh figs, peaches and avocado. Summer in a bowl!
Succulent chicken breasts, garden greens, feta cheese, and fresh figs, peaches and avocado--this Balsamic Glazed Chicken Salad celebrates mid-summer harvest! With a glass of crisp white wine, a deck chair in the shade, and this bowl on my lap, I'm completely content. Summer meals should be easy meals and this one fits the bill.
We arrived home from vacation to find our fig tree literally dripping. When figs are overripe, they sometimes burst with their sweet juice. We had let our tree grow so tall that the branches were bending and we could no longer reach all the figs, even with a tall ladder. Time to prune! (Although it probably wasn't the best season to prune--I'll have to google that--any knowledgeable tree pruners out there?)
If you have a fig tree, you'll know the feeling of having too many figs all at once--just like a peach tree! I've made fig smoothies, a fig yogurt parfait, this fresh fig arugula salad with blackberries, and my favourite snack: fresh figs with goat cheese and honey. Today I added them to our dinner in this Balsamic Glazed Chicken Salad.
Sweet-tart balsamic vinegar glaze seals in the juices of the chicken breasts and balances the naturally sweet figs and peaches. I added salty feta cheese and creamy avocado for contrast, and arranged it all on a bed of greens that I picked from the garden: romaine, arugula, basil, and cucumbers.
To make this meal-in-a-bowl, prepare the balsamic glaze first. You could use store-bought if you like, but it's so quick and easy to make yourself that it seems silly to buy it. Sear the chicken breasts, brush them with the glaze and bake in the oven while you assemble the salad ingredients. Drizzle it all with some of the leftover glaze that you reserved and serve! You can make this ahead and serve the chicken cold--it's just as good!
Figs are readily available in markets in late July, August and some varieties in early September here in the northern hemisphere. Get them quick before they're gone! Figs have a short shelf life, so store them in the fridge and enjoy them while they're at their peak of perfection. Make a summer memory!
📖 Recipe
Balsamic Glazed Chicken Salad with Fresh Figs
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon butter
Balsamic Glaze
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, de Modena
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Salad
- 1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
- 1 large peach pitted, peeled and sliced
- 2 fresh figs, quartered
- 2 cups fresh salad greens
- ½ long English cucumber, sliced
- ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
Balsamic Glaze
- In a small saucepan on the stove top, heat oil. Add minced garlic and cook, stirring until golden and fragrant, being careful not to let it burn. Add balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper and stir until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Pat chicken breasts dry. In a small oven proof skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter. When hot, add chicken breasts and brown for 3 - 5 minutes on each side until golden. Remove from heat, brush with half of the Balsamic Glaze, reserving half to drizzle on salad later. Transfer skillet to oven and bake for 15 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove from oven and let rest.
- While chicken is baking, assemble salad ingredients in a bowl. Slice chicken, add to bowl, drizzle with remaining balsamic glaze and serve.
Nutrition
Making this recipe? Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram: @flavourandsavour #flavourandsavour.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on any of the affiliate links and make a purchase within a certain time frame, I’ll receive a small commission. The commission is paid by the third party, not by you. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Terri@foodmeanderings
Lucky you with your fig tree! I'm with Justine- have never found fresh figs in Cowtown! This is a gorgeous and delectable sounding salad. The description made my mouth water!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Terri. The first time I had a fresh fig picked right from the tree was in Italy. I was amazed at how good it was so we planted a tree as soon as we came home. Luckily our climate is warm enough here to grow them. Thanks for your kind comments!
Justine @ JustineCelina.com
Elaine, what a lovely and elegant summer salad! I have the worst luck finding figs here in Calgary -- I would love to be able to take some of this figs off of your hands. 😉 I love what you've done here while still keeping it approachable. Have a great weekend!
Flavour & Savour
Thanks Justine! Wish I could send you some of our excess!!
Cathy
How wonderful to have your own fig tree! I need to use figs more often. We also have fruit trees and have to deal with pruning. I've read that the best time to prune is when you have the pruning shears in your hand! 🙂
Flavour & Savour
Lol! That seems to be what happens around here! I do love figs, but I had no idea when we planted the tree that it would produce so many!! And then, the following year, I planted another one. Gah! Fig overload!