Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
Runner’s high is a real thing and it is an AWESOME feeling. It’s funny. A few years ago I picked up running because I thought it would make me a better hiker. It did make me a better hiker. I hated running for a little while, and it’s still not my favorite workout to date, but I’m coming around to really love it. Mostly just on race day, but that race day feeling is what makes all the other days totally worth it.
This past weekend I temporarily traded my hiking boots in for my running shoes and participated in the inaugural RiMaConn relay race. For those of you unaware, RiMaConn is a 95 mile relay race that began in Lincoln, Rhode Island and finished in Hartford, Connecticut. 3 states, 18 legs, 95 miles. I was part of a team of six. Mike was also on the team along with four other friends and friends of friends. As it turns out, it is surprisingly difficult to find five other people who want to give up their Saturday to run anywhere from 12 to 21 miles. I wasn’t quite sure how our team would pan out, but as it turned out we did MUCH better than I had anticipated. My only goal for this event was to finish it without being disqualified. To not be disqualified, teams were expected to maintain an average pace of 11 minutes per mile. I expected our team to come in around 10 minutes per mile, maybe 10:30. Anything below 11 minutes I was totally fine with. At the end of the race our average pace turned out to be 9:44! I was blown away by this and so SO proud of our team. It’s fun that I have new running friends that share similar interests. We’re already talking about what races we’re going to sign up for next. Am I jumping the gun here? I should probably wait for my runner’s high to die down a bit before signing up for that marathon, right? Right…
I could talk about how amazing my weekend was all day. I could probably write ten blog posts about my experience. But that’s not why you came here today, and I get that. Although I do like to share about my fun adventures, it’s really more about the food that fuels me over here. And today, I’m here to talk about a paleo and Whole30 meal prep friendly lunch option to get you through the work week. Behold! Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad!
In high school, my then-boyfriend LOVED the Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich from Subway. We would frequent Subway often because a decade ago I wasn’t quite hip to the fact that most restaurants don’t sell real food. Sorry, but it’s mostly sugar and soy. Sure, that’s why everything tastes so good, but that’s not what we should be feeding ourselves on a daily basis. Luckily, this is a meal that you can feel good about eating every single day and it only gets better with time as the flavors meld together in the refrigerator. It’s similar to soup in that way.
Any recipe involving bacon is pretty much sure to be a hit. And what exactly is it that makes it even better when paired with chicken and ranch? I couldn’t tell you but I’m also not complaining.
If you’re hesitant to try this recipe because you don’t have a paleo or Whole30 friendly bottle of Ranch dressing on hand, don’t you worry about that. No fancy bottled dressings are required here. What IS required, however, is some clean mayo. Make sure you have a tub of that on hand. Primal Kitchen is always a safe bet, but Sir Kensington’s also just came out with a new sugar free avocado oil mayo that I am PUMPED about. I picked up a giant tub at Costco for about $8 recently. That giant tub will last me the better part of a year, and that is saying a lot because I make a ton of recipes using mayo. You’ll just see!
Like I was saying, no special bottled dressings are required here because all of the spices make up the “Ranch” part of this recipe. So in addition to the clean mayo, you’ll also need a well-stocked spice cabinet. You won’t find anything too crazy or hard to find in here, and the flavors from the spices really make this recipe pop!
Here’s to a week of Whole30 lunches. No last minute trips to Subway required if you make this Sunday night and have it for lunch all week!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
Ingredients
Method
- Butterfly the chicken breast. Season with sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Set aside.
- Cook the bacon: cut bacon into lardons and add to a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until cooked through and crispy, 12-15 minutes. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate to cool. Reserve two tablespoons of the bacon fat in a small bowl. Clean and dry the the cast iron skillet and return to medium heat on the stove top.
- Cook the chicken breast: add the two tablespoons of bacon fat back to the skillet. When hot, add the butterflied chicken breast. Cook on one side for 7-8 minutes until the edges of the chicken breast start to turn white. Flip. Cook for 8-10 minutes more until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165° F when measured with a meat thermometer. It's okay to flip the chicken over several times to brown the breast evenly on both sides. When cooked through, remove the chicken breast on to a large plate and shred using two forks. Let cool.
- When the bacon and the chicken breast have cooled, add to a medium bowl. Add all of the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine. Serve in lettuce cups. Enjoy! Cover leftovers and store in refrigerator for up to five days.
