Healthy Old Broad

Healthy Baked Goods Recipes Made Without Gluten and Sugar

Panzanella Caprese Chicken Salad

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If one type of salad is good why not combine a couple different ones to make one fantastic salad.

It is not easy to find gluten free bread to make good croutons but I have now figured out how to do it….yeah me.  Everyone loves a good Caprese salad but it is more an appetizer than a meal. So I decided to combine the two and add chicken with a basil dressing and it was a “wow”  Don’t freak out about baking your own bread, I have made this Focaccia Bread in several different flavors and it is always good and easy to do (and this olive focaccia makes a yummy sandwich bread).

This might seem like a lot of ingredients and process but it is really easy and totally worth it.

Kalamata Olive Focaccia Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup warm water (around 105 degress)
  • 1 tablespoon XYLA
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (it is more than one package)
  • 1 1/2 cups Pamela’s Gluten Free Flour
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water, add the yeast, stir and let stand for about 5 minutes.
  3. While the yeast is doing it’s thing combine the flour, xanthan gum, salt and olives in a bowl.
  4. After the yeast has bloomed add 2 tablespoons and egg to it and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine well.
  5. Spray a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with non-stick spray, add the batter, cover with saran wrap and let sit for at least 20 minutes in a warm place to let batter rise.
  6. Remove saran wrap, bake for 25 minutes, let cool in pan.
  7. To make the croutons: slice the bread into croutons place on dry baking sheet in a 300 degree oven for 17 to 20 minutes.

Basil Dressing

  • 1 cup fresh basil
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinager
  • 2 teaspoon Mirin
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and you have a very tasty dressing,

The Salad

Combine the following on a platter (you can use as much or as little of each depending on how large you are making the salad).

  • Cooked Chicken: this can be leftover chicken you have, roasted chicken thighs or breast.
  • fresh mozzarella balls or a mozzarella log cut up into pieces
  • pitted Kalamata olives, sliced in half
  • baby Heirloom tomatoes – halved
  • the croutons
  • avocado – sliced up
  1. Place all the ingredients on a platter and drizzle with the basil dressing.