Fall Harvest Salad (AIP/ Paleo)

I never was a big fan of salad. It was probably because I could never tolerate them well when my Ulcerative Colitis was so active. Now that my digestion has improved, that’s a whole different story! I love the freshness and different textures of salads and how you can dress them up with just about anything! Over the past year salad have turned into a lunch time staple in our house during the summer. 

As the days are getting cooler here I wanted to create a fall-twist on this warm weather classic by adding sweet potatoes, raisins, almonds and those warming/ earthy herbs that are so comforting this time of year. You can feel free to add whatever fall-inspired toppings you like, these are just the ones I settled on. Roasted butternut squash would be delicious too! This salad is perfect with just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil to finish it off.

Fall Harvest Salad (AIP/ Paleo)

Ingredients

3 – 4 chicken breast

1 TBS olive oil

¾ tsp sage

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

14 tsp onion powder

8 cups mixed greens

2 sweet potatoes

⅓ cup raisins

½ cup almonds (omit for elimination-phase AIP)

1 – 2 apples

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, season the chicken breast with ½ TBS of olive oil, sage, ½ tsp salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and place in a baking dish. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-size chunks and season with the remaining ½ TBS of olive oil and ½ tsp of salt and place on a separate baking sheet. Put both the chicken and the sweet potatoes in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken reaches 170 degrees and the sweet potatoes have browned. 

While the sweet potatoes and chicken are in the oven, chop up the almonds and place them in a skillet on medium-low heat. Toast the almond for 10-15 minutes. Watch them carefully as they can burn quickly! 

To assemble the salad, start with about 2 cups of loosely packed mixed greens, a sprinkling of raisins and almonds, some diced apple, and finish it off the roasted sweet potato and chicken. 

I love to dress this salad with simple balsamic vinegar and olive oil or this Garlic Herb Vinaigrette!