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Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

This easy healthy chicken salad recipe with pecans and cranberries takes just minutes to whip up and makes the perfect entree, appetizer, or snack. It’s gluten free and dairy free too. Jump to Recipe

One of the things that comes along with moving is restocking the pantry. Of course, I hauled over a cooler of snacks the very first day we had keys to the house, but since we couldn’t actually move in for a few weeks after that, I impatiently waited to do a full re-stock.

We didn’t move that far, but I’m still learning the area and what’s closest to us. First up: grocery stores.

The prices at the first one I checked out were pleasantly surprising, especially the produce section, and though not super extensive, I was impressed with the gluten-free/allergy-friendly sections. I saw one right off the bat when we walked in the door and found another mid-way through our journey. As much as I like seeing gluten-free options on the shelves right along side everything else, it’s nice and convenient to be able to go to one section and grab and go instead of hunting.

Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe with pecans and cranberries

Food Lion also has a new online recipe portal that was helpful for coming up with ideas for some meals to cook in our first week in our new home. I’m used to having staples in the kitchen, so it was a good reminder of what I needed to toss in the cart for this first big shopping trip. The portal is easy to navigate, user-friendly, and has a good variety of ideas. I jotted down some gluten-free cinnamon rolls, paleo zucchini muffins, and pesto pizza rolls for the husband.

I’ve also contributed to the recipe portal with one of my favorite grocery store deli counter inspired options: cranberry pecan chicken salad.

Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe with Pecans and Cranberries {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

This cranberry pecan chicken salad recipe takes just minutes to whip up and makes the perfect entree, appetizer, or snack. It's gluten free and dairy free too.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken shredded
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice
1 T minced parsley
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine mayonnaise, honey, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
Combine chicken, cranberries, pecans, celery, and parsley.
Mix in mayo mixture.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

I love using rotisserie chickens because they’re already cooked and ready to go, plus they have a ton of flavor, but feel free to use any kind of chicken you have.

This healthy chicken salad recipe is one of my favorite easy recipes for the whole family, especially because it’s on of the few “normal” entrees my three year old eats without complaining. The secret to all things toddler food: Craisins. Shh don’t tell.

So next time you’re looking for an easy chicken salad recipe, try this. I like making a big batch at the beginning of the week and snacking on it for a few days. We use it as a sandwich filler, an appetizer served with tortilla chips, and a green salad topper, although most of the time we eat it right out of the bowl with a fork.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Click here for more Gluten Free Dairy Free Recipes that won’t leave you trapped in the kitchen for hours or hunting down a million bizarre ingredients.

Coconut Almond Butter

Recipe, Snack

Have you all tried this stuff?!! It’s coconut + peanut butter heaven. I picked up a jar of the chunky a few months ago and I’ve done nothing but eat it straight out of the jar with spoon. So. Good.

So good I had to make my own.

I’ve been meaning to try my hand at some homemade almond butter so I killed two birds with one stone.

Homemade Coconut Almond Butter. Yes, please.

I prefer to use blanched almonds for a more-refined tasting almond butter- less rustic if you will- but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

Coconut Almond Butter

homemade almond butter

by with a Side of Sneakers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups blanched slivered almonds
1 Tbsp coconut oil, liquid
pinch sea salt

Instructions

Blend ingredients in high powered blender or food processor until smooth.

Notes:

You may want to start by blending almonds alone, then slowly add in coconut oil until almond mixture comes together in a smooth consistency. You may or may not use all {or more!} of the coconut oil.

Also delicious with cinnamon & vanilla!

Seriously, this stuff is so good. I even have to share with the little rugrat– I let him swipe a taste one day and he refused to give my spoon back.

Need me to grab you a spoon? Winking smile

Last Minute Stuffed Peppers

Vegan

Isn’t it nice to have a recipe on hand for when you have company over and you need a dinner that looks like it took a lot of work but really didn’t? My go to: stuffed peppers. Shoot, I just gave away my secret.

The best thing about stuffed peppers is that you can stuff ‘em with pretty much anything and you can cook them just about anywhere. I like mine grilled best, but I’ve been known to broil them in the toaster oven more often than not.

These peppers can be ready to eat in less than 15 minutes depending on what kind of rice you use.

I make it easy on myself by cooking a big batch of brown rice and refrigerating it so it’s ready when I need it. {I’m not an advanced planner when it comes to hunger.} If you don’t have any premade and need a meal on the table quickly, quick cooking rice, quinoa, or orzo would be a good fast option.

Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

black bean stuffed peppers

by with a Side of Sneakers

Ingredients

2 green or red bell peppers, sliced in half top to bottom
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup brown rice {or other grain}
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 can diced green chiles
Optional: diced jalapenos or yellow corn

Instructions

Mix beans, rice, and taco seasoning.

Fill peppers with bean mixture.

No taco seasoning? Try a mix of chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper instead.

If you’re not vegan, feel free to top with cheddar cheese before cooking.

Pop on the grill until peppers slightly char and filling is warm. Or cheat like me: heat the bean mixture in the microwave while broiling the empty peppers, then fill and serve.

What’s your favorite easy entertaining meal?

Pssst. Check out baby’s first vacation over on tiny sneakers!

Balsamic Chickpeas

Recipe

Have I ever told you about the story about the husband’s cooking skills? Or rather, his lack of cooking skills?

My senior year of college I lived in an apartment with the husband and his best friend {and a random third roommate that I never, ever, saw…but that’s a different story}.

I forget now how it came to be, but the boys decided they were going to cook me dinner. Thoroughly excited, I kicked off my shoes, propped my feet up on the coffee table and sat back prepared to relax.

I heard some mumblings from the kitchen and then the questions started. Sooo how do you cook spaghetti? {Umm you boil a pot of water and put the noodles in?} How do you boil a pot of water? {I’m so serious}.

Needless to say it was eye opening. Then I learned how the husband “cooked” grilled cheese and I realized any dream of having dinner cooked for me was officially over. {Toast bread. Put cheese on bread. Microwave. <– Not grilled cheese in my book}

As you can imagine, having the husband help with meal prep is really not helpful at all. The idea of him cooking dinner while I take care of the baby is just absurd. For some reason I got it into my head the other day that I had to have chana masala. The only problem is the husband doesn’t like it. So I dug through the pantry and came up with what I thought was an acceptable alternative.

I took advantage of my motivation to cook and got things rolling: I had the rice and water boiling; I’d minced the garlic; I’d chopped half an onion.

And then the inevitable happened: it was time to feed the baby. I had two choices: kiss dinner goodbye as it burned away on the stove, or enlist the husband’s help.

I think the only reason he agreed was because he was starving and I don’t exactly cook much these days.

So there I sat on the couch, shouting explicit instructions into the kitchen.

Open the can of chickpeas. Rinse them. Open the cans of tomatoes. Don’t drain them! Have you checked the onions? You’ll need a spoon. Turn the temperature down.

I knew better than to tell him to put the spices in, so I carefully avoided mentioning them. I’d sneak them in later when I had my hands free.

This ended up being the perfect dish to tag team. It’s pretty hard to mess up {ok, the rice might have burned to the bottom of the pan} and it doesn’t matter how long you cook it. Translation: it can sit simmering away on the stove while you give a baby a bath and put him to bed. Although the smell of dinner waiting downstairs is rather tortuous when bedtime is a multi-hour event.

And with that, I present you with the following: balsamic chickpeas!

Balsamic Chickpeas

easy chickpea dish

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15oz can garbanzo beans {drained & rinsed}
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
black pepper to taste

Instructions

Sauté onions and garlic until onions start to brown.

Stir in chickpeas and tomatoes.

Add in balsamic vinegar, cumin, cinnamon, and pepper.

Simmer ~20 minutes or until ready to eat.

Serve over brown rice.

Portabella Pepper Pita Pockets

Recipe

I have to tell you, I feel less and less like cooking every day. Pregnancy took me completely by surprise by destroying my appetite. No food sounds good and I don’t really want to be around it most of the time.

Of course I still get hungry, so eventually I have to come up something –anything- to eat, and heaven forbid I let the husband go hungry. Every evening goes a little bit like this. {Sometimes I start asking in the middle of the day just to get the ball rolling.}

“What do you want for dinner?”

“I don’t know, what do you want?”

“I don’t, I came up with something yesterday.”

“Well that was yesterday. If you want to eat again today, you have to come up with something.”

And so on and so forth; you get the picture.

The days of long cooked meals and elaborate ideas has long flown out the window. Now, the easier the better.

My latest solution? Pita pockets. I throw some vegetables in the oven to roast, some pitas in the toaster, and then act like I concocted a meal fit for a queen. Hey, you never know, maybe the queen loves veggies too.

So this isn’t so much a recipe as it is a meal idea, for the next time you might be struggling to come up with a dinner {or lunch} idea.

Roasted Red Pepper Portabella Pita Pockets

1 pint baby portabella mushrooms

1-2 red bell peppers

large handful of mixed greens

balsamic vinegar

2 whole wheat pita pockets

Slice the red bell peppers into quarters. Lay skin side up on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes under the broiler, until the skin starts to char. You can peel the skin off if you’d like, but I leave it on.

Bake the mushrooms and any other veggies you want at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Toast the pitas.

Toss the mixed greens in balsamic vinegar, then stuff into the pitas. When the veggies are done, cut into smaller pieces as needed and place inside the pita.

I roasted a bunch of asparagus along side the mushrooms as a side dish. They’re simply coated in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper- delicious.