Chicken Apple Salad with Candied Walnuts

Recently, I was the winner of Mimi’s, Mimi’s Kitchen, Girard’s Dressings giveaway. We have been using Girard’s Light Champagne Dressing for a couple of years now and we love it. So I was excited to try some of their other flavors.

Mimi posted several great salad recipes on her giveaway post, including this one for Chicken Apple Salad. She used Girard ‘s Apple Poppy Seed dressing and it is a perfect fit for this salad. It is sweet, like a raspberry vinaigrette, but light and really compliments the fruits in the salad.

I changed up Mimi’s salad a bit. I used green onions and Parmesan and added the candied walnuts I fell in love with posted on Our Best Bites.  As with most salad recipes, it’s easy to make it your own and use whatever flavors/ingredients you like. I served this as a main dish with some hearty whole grain rolls.

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Yield: 6-8 servings

Chicken Apple Salad with Candied Walnuts

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled and diced
• 4 slices of pre-cooked bacon, chopped
• 2 cups mixed greens
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 3 oz. package  apple chips

Instructions

1. Combine the walnuts and sugar in a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the sugar starts to liquefy.  Continue stirring constantly until the liquid reaches a golden color and coats the nuts.
2. Remove from heat and spread candied nuts onto a greased cookie sheet or plate and allow to cool completely. Stir occasionally as it cools to break up large pieces.
3. Toss remaining ingredients in a bowl and serve with your favorite dressing. I used the Girard's Apple Poppy Seed dressing.

I also made a spaghetti toss recipe that came with the dressings. It used the creamy balsamic vinaigrette, which was delicious as well and would be perfect for any pasta salad.  Thanks Mimi for hosting the giveaway!

Other salad recipes you might like:

Perfect Pasta Salad, Barbara Bakes
Coucous Salad, Mimi’s Kitchen
Spinach Mandarin Poppy Seed Salad, Our Best Bites
Greek Chicken Pasta Salad, Wives with Knives