I am obsessed with this salad. I want to eat it every day. At least until I get sick of it. But I’m not sure I’ll ever get sick of the cinnamon-roasted sweet potatoes, apples, and the caramel vinaigrette chicken that goes into it. It’s like dinner (or lunch) and dessert in one big, beautiful sweet and savory salad.
Best part. It smells and tastes just like fall.
I know it’s only the first week of October, but the sweet potatoes in this salad give a little taste of Thanksgiving too. Heaven help me us. I hope you make it!
Start by marinating chicken breasts in a Caramel Vinaigrette {recipe below} for just a few hours.
Toss some slices of apple and sweet potato in a little bit of olive oil, cinnamon, and a dash of sugar and roast them for about 25 minutes, until they are nice and tender.
While the apples and potatoes are a roastin’ cook up the chicken real quick. You will start to fall in love with the smell in your kitchen right. about. now!
Once the chicken is cooked through cut it into chunks or shred it, whichever you prefer. Then just lay the chicken, sweet potatoes, and apples, over a big bed of lettuce. Top with some feta cheese, candied pecans, and give it a drizzle of the extra Caramel Vinaigrette you will have.
And don’t you worry, this salad is husband approved. It’s a hearty one. And let’s call it healthy–cause it’s a salad!
Cinnamon-Roasted Sweet Potato & Apple Salad with Caramel Vinaigrette Chicken {the best fall salad}
Ingredients
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1 medium sized sweet potato
1 large apple
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch (or two) of sugar
1tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
2 chicken breasts, thawed (or four chicken tenders)
1/4-1/2 cup Feta cheese
1/4 cup candied pecans
Caramel Vinaigrette
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp ground mustard
1 1/2 tbsp caramel sauce (melted–you want it runny)
Instructions
Whisk together balsamic vinegar, oil, ground mustard and caramel sauce.
Place chicken tenders in a large zip lock bag and pour 3/4 of the vinaigrette over the chicken. Let marinate for 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 425.
Peel and cut the sweet potato and apple into slices or chunks (whichever you prefer). Place slices in a bowl and drizzle olive oil over the top. Toss to coat. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar in and toss until even coated again.
Spread the potatoes and apples in a single layer on baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes until tender (tossing half way through).
Rinse the lettuce and chop or shred it and place in a large salad bowl and set aside.
Cook your chicken over medium heat until cooked through. Cut into chunks or shred.
Lay chicken, sweet potatoes, and apples over your bed of lettuce. Sprinkle with feta cheese and pecans. Drizzle with remaining Caramel Vinaigrette.
*I left the nuts out this time
This sounds amazing. I don’t think that I’ll ever get tired of sweet potatoes. Perfect recipe for fall.
Came over via foodgawker; this salad looks insanely delicious! I’m currently on a pumpkin kick, but sweet potatoes and apples are other fall favorites that I can’t get enough of. Then there’s the caramel vinaigrette… seriously? Awesome.
Caramel Vinaigrette. Droooooooool.
This looks amazing! I love these fall veggies and I love that they are paired together *and roasted* in this salad. Thanks for this one. I’m sure it will be a keeper in our house.
Love all the fall flavors in this salad!
This looks so good!! I will have to try it. Love the blog 🙂
http://wishesanddishes.blogspot.com/
I was thinking chicken + apples + salad for dinner tonight… this looks perfect! Just from looking at it- I’m pretty sure I could eat it every day, too!
Just wanted to let you know that this is the BEST salad that I’ve ever made, and one of the best that I’ve ever ate! Made one batch for dinner last night, making another for a meal with friends tonight. 🙂
Can’t wait to make this salad for Thanksgiving (minus the chicken) and for dinner sometime (with the chicken)!
Just made this and it was awesome!!! Thank you!
Dear Kristy, I’m on a super strict and boring cleansing diet, but spent the day browsing the bottomless pit of amazing recipes. THIS one I really can’t wait to try in two weeks! And since your site is one of my favorites so far, I’m just posting thi comment so that I can activate the “Notify me on new posts by email.” option… :o)
Thanks for a great site and Blessings!
I made this salad tonight and it was delicious! Everyone loved it, even my picky husband who doesn’t even like sweet potatoes.
Do you eat this while the chicken / apples / sweet potatoes are hot or is ok if they’ve cooled down already?
It’s okay if they’ve cooled a little bit. either way is good!
Top marks for this. Tastes great. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
Wow amazing dishes ????
Thank you!!