Chimichurri Chicken Avocado Salad

"1. Bring the chicken to room temperature before cooking I know many people are reluctant to leave raw meat at room temperature and just to be clear, I am not saying you should leave it for hours on the cooking table. But if you want to make it juicy and perfectly cooked, you need to let sit for 20-30 minutes after taking it out of the fridge. And this is a good rule of thumb for cooking any meat, especially for thick cuts or whole roasted chicken/turkey. This method helps to cook the meat evenly and faster, and it’s totally fine as long as you don’t forget the chicken on the cooking table :). 2. How to adapt the chimichurri chicken avocado salad recipe to your taste. I made it with chicken breast but you can replace that with thighs, turkey, or shrimps. You can also tweak the chimichurri sauce and try different levels of spicy. If you want it mild use green or red cayenne. For medium-hot, try it with Jalapeno. And if you are brave enough, use Habanero. This will make it extremely hot so be careful with it, ok? You need to be some hot chili pro taster to try that. Apart from chilis, you can also change the herbs, or try different combos like parsley and cilantro, or mint and basil. Furthermore, you can make the salad with your favorite chopped veggies, like bell peppers, corn or green onion. Now, if you really want to make the best chimichurri chicken avocado salad, you must pay special attention to the following tip. 3. Marinate the chicken in chimichurri sauce. Most people use chimichurri as a dressing or a dip but have you ever thought of marinating meat in it? If not, then you must try it! Trust me, this will take your chimichurri chicken salad to a whole new level of flavorness. And it’s not just for poultry. You can marinate almost all kinds of meat in this sauce, especially barbecue or grilled. All you’d have to do is place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag then add about 1/4 cup of chimichurri sauce, and mix well to coat. Then you need to refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but for maximum flavor intensity, it’s best to leave it overnight. Of course, you could skip this step and it will still be delish, but you really gotta try it once. 4. How to do meal planning with chimichurri chicken salad. You can keep homemade chimichurri sauce in a lidded jar for up to 7 days. Some store-bought ones may have a longer expiration date but let’s be honest… homemade is always best, isn’t it? The salad will last up to 3 days in the fridge (in air-tight containers) but you need to pat-dry the veggies before prepping them and make sure that there’s no moisture. Otherwise, they will not hold up nice and fresh that long. Also, keep in mind that you must store the sauce separately and mix it with salad just before serving."

Preparation Time10 min

Cooking Time10 min