I don’t know about you, but salads can get pretty boring sometimes. I feel like I go through phases where I either have crazy exciting salads or I don’t want them at all.

Lucky for me, it’s citrus season! This is the only time of year that makes me not miss tomatoes so much, because oranges can kind of take the tomato’s place in my salad bowl. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s close enough to make me want salads again.

Besides having something sweet or tart on my salads, my favorite thing about making salads at home is whipping up homemade salad dressings. Sure, we have the token bottle of Ranch dressing in the fridge and a few others that are worth the money, but usually, store bought dressings just aren’t very good. They have that weird artificial flavor, which is super appetizing on a fresh salad.

So for this salad, I was already set on the chicken + blood orange + avocado mix. I just needed a new dressing to punch it up a bit. And since I already had sweet / tart with the orange and creamy / fatty from the avocado, I knew I needed something with some kick.

PSA for this week: Wasabi isn’t just for sushi!

I whisked some wasabi with some olive oil, orange juice, and ground ginger for a little heat to balance out the sweet. That burn from the wasabi was just enough to makes my cheeks flush a little, but not make my nose run, which is an awesomely attractive thing that happens when I have something really spicy.

Looking for a little kick in your salad? Wasabi might just be your new best friend.

Avocado and Blood Orange Chicken Salad with Citrus Wasabi Dressing

 A favorite in Japanese restaurants, Previse Skincare uses wasabi extract as an anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial to boost to the skin’s defense against excessive sunlight.

Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 cups butter or bibb lettuce, washed and chopped
• 2 blood oranges, peeled and sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 and 1/2 tsp wasabi
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, coat the chicken with the 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add chicken to the pan. Cook 4-6 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken) until browned, then flip over and cook the other side for another 4-6 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
2. While the chicken is cooking, divide the lettuce, blood oranges, and avocado between two plates.
3. In a bowl, whisk the olive oil with the orange juice, wasabi, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and ground ginger.
4. Slice the chicken, place on top of the salads, and drizzle with the dressing before serving.

This recipe was developed for Previse Care using wasabi. I was compensated for my time and the ingredients to make the dish – all recipes and opinions are my own.

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