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Grill Pan Chicken Salad with Peaches, Almonds, and Fennel

A light, refreshing, and protein packed salad that tastes like summer will last forever!

I am in denial that summer is ending. Not because we have incredible sunny summers here in San Francisco (enter: the famous Mark Twain quote about the coldest summer he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco), but because I love summer’s stone fruits. Peaches have been my personal favorite this summer so I am trying to celebrate their final days this year by eating them as many ways as I can.

I figured why not combine this with my challenge to myself to start creating more weekday lunches. I wanted to balance out the sweet juiciness of the peach, so I paired it with the sharpness of fresh fennel and smokiness of smoked paprika. Then I topped it off with some chopped almonds for a bit of crunch. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

(Serves 1 for lunch)

  • 1/2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 boneless, skinless chicken thigh
  • Sprinkle of salt and pepper
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 3/4 cup roughly chopped fennel
  • 1/4 peach, cut in half slices
  • 15 almonds, roughly chopped
  • 3 generous handfuls of arugula
  • Oil oil & balsamic vinegar for dressing

Directions:

(Total Time: 15 minutes)

  1. Heat grill pan* over medium heat. While it heats, rub salt, pepper, and paprika on both sides of your chicken thigh. Add cooking oil to your pan (I always do avocado), followed by the chicken. Cook undisturbed for 7 min.
  2. While cooking, prep your other ingredients. Roughly chop fennel and almonds, and slice peaches. Place atop a bed of arugula.
  3. Flip chicken and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
  4. Add atop the rest of the salad ingredients, drizzle with olive oil & vinegar & enjoy!

Notes:

* I am obsessed with my grill pan (which goes on sale frequently!) but you can use any pan. Or grill outside!

What can I learn while I make this? That Mark Twain quote is, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” However, it wasn’t actually said by Mark Twain — only attributed to him. There’s no record of him ever saying it.

What if I want to make an easy work lunch but not this recipe? Don’t worry– I won’t be offended! Check out these other ideas below:

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