Happy Halloween! We had a super packed, really fun weekend. Here’s the highlights: And now I’m ready to go for today. I hope you have lots of little ghosts and goblins visit you tonight! My kiddos are really excited - mostly by the candy. They don’t ever get any from me, so days like this are a big deal.
And I’m excited to hang out with our neighbors — we do a little tailgating and everyone brings food and drinks and we hang out in a cul-de-sac until it’s trick or treat time. However, while I love this holiday, today’s recipe has nothing to do with it. (You can see my easy healthy Halloween spider snacks if you need some festive fun today!) But this warm chicken, spinach and sweet potato salad with bacon vinaigrette? Oh, it will start your week off on a good note.
It’s so freakin’ delicious. I could marry this salad and live happily ever after. As long as I can continue to get perfect bite after perfect bite where I have a little bit of every single ingredient. We’ve got tender, juicy chicken breasts, roasted sweet potatoes, a base of fresh spinach and then all kinds of crazy big bacon flavor between the vinaigrette and the bacon pieces sprinkled on top. My husband, who is my barometer of all things bacon-related, highly approved. If we’re going to do salad as a meal, this is the kind he wants. (Me, I’m on the healthier side, so I definitely want to check out this kale salad with bacon vinaigrette soon!)
Notes on chicken and sweet potato salad with bacon vinaigrette:
I use bone-in chicken breasts that I roasted on a separate sheet pan in the oven at the same time as the sweet potatoes. You could also use a rotisserie chicken from the store, grilled chicken or chicken thighs if you like. You can probably get away with just using 2 chicken breasts if yours are larger. That’s what I do - they stretch well. But I wrote the recipe for 3 breasts so everyone has plenty. Similarly, you can of course add more bacon if you like. I find I can get 5 strips into my large skillet at a time, so that’s what I use. To get this all to come together, get the chicken and sweet potatoes in the oven first, then fry the bacon and make your vinaigrette. Have it ready to go when they come out of the oven so you can serve this warm. The warmth from the chicken and sweet potatoes will help wilt the spinach a little. If you’d rather, you could also sauté the spinach right before you put this all together to serve.
Give this chicken, spinach and sweet potato salad with bacon a try - I think you’ll love this flavor combo! And if you love the dressing as much as we do and want to add it to ALL the salads and veggies, check out this warm bacon vinaigrette for a stand-alone recipe; it takes just 15 minutes to make! And this loaded spinach salad for a side dish that will knock your socks off. I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween and I’ll see you back on Wednesday, when we’re gonna start talking Thanksgiving, in the form of a fun twist on Friendsgiving — Blogsgiving! 🙂 Enjoy! XO, Kathryn
I use bone-in chicken breasts that I roasted on a separate sheet pan in the oven at the same time as the sweet potatoes. You could also use a rotisserie chicken from the store, grilled chicken or whatever you like.
