Would you look at that? I finally made us a summer salad! This peachy chipotle chicken tortilla and avocado rice salad…with pan fried halloumi, just had to be shared! And yes, to be expected, I left nothing out of the recipe title…Typical. So you guys, when I dream up a salad in my head, I don’t just dream up a bowl of lettuce with some chicken, and dressing. NOOO. That’s the worst. I can’t do a boring chicken salad for the life of me. Nope, I’m all about the salad that’s a MEAL. A salad that is loaded with veggies, proteins, grains, and okay…maybe just a little cheese too. This is that salad.
For weeks now, I’ve been wanting to create a peach salad that was delicious, but different from anything I already have on the blog (….see all the salads here). Last summer I made this balsamic chicken and peach salad, as well is this Thai peach quinoa salad. <– both are really good and you should probably check them out if you’re up to your ears in summer peaches. Just sayin’. Not going to lie, for this summer’s peach salad I was a little stumped. So stumped that I actually gave up trying to come up with an idea and decided on a chicken tortilla salad instead. It sounded good and I was happy with the idea, but then I made it, photographed it and decided it was just boring. I mean, it was good, but not good enough. The thing about me is that if I don’t 100% love a recipe, you guys are never going to see it, and that was the case with the previous salad. But then I got to thinking (on a hike of course, because this is when I come up with the best recipes). Chipotle, honey, and peaches are a delicious combo, and you know, they might just work in salad form. Then my wheels started turning and the idea of an avocado rice came to mind. Like avocado rice, meaning not rice topped with avocado, but avocado mixed into the rice. And then, somehow fried Halloumi cheese flew into my head, and just like that this salad was born and it pretty much stomped all over the previous (and rather colorless) salad. I made it, loved it, and now I am showing it to you guys, and I am 100% excited about it.
Here is the gist of this salad. Start out by making the vinaigrette –> a mix of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, a little lime, a little honey, chipotle peppers, and cilantro (use basil if you hate cilantro). Mix this up in a glass jar and shake, shake, SHAKE. Next make the rice –> brown rice + perfectly ripe avocado + lime juice + flakey sea salt. PERFECTION…I could eat just this rice and be pretty happy. Last up –> pan fried halloumi cheese (my favorite). Then just toss your salad ingredients together…hello to mixed greens, bell peppers, fresh peaches, jalapeño, and shredded chicken. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, top with rice, halloumi, and some tortilla chips for crunch. Picture perfect salad = complete.
I really cannot express how good this salad is. The layers of flavor, the texture, the sweet peaches with the spicy vinaigrette, the salty halloumi cheese with the savory avocado rice. It’s so delicious all together! It really is a salad like no other, and I love it. Whoever defined a salad as a boring bowl of lettuce could not have been more off. Salads should be wholesome, fun, and crave worthy, and this salad is totally that. Enter in the fist pump emoji now.
ps. from here on out all rice now needs to be avocado rice…it’s beyond good.
