San Fran Chicken Salad with Yoghurt Ranch Dressing

Inspired by Souvla, a popular restaurant in San Francisco, this is one of the best chicken salads I've ever had. Yes there are lots of components - but it is worth it! Yoghurt is a terrific marinade for chicken - tenderises, adds juiciness and infuses with flavour. It's satisfying, filling, fresh, great textures, the dressing is awesome. Great show off salad to serve to friends! VIDEO below.

Prep time: PT30M

Cook time: PT5M

Total time: PT35M

Rating

4.93 stars (13 reviews)

Ingredients

1 cup Greek yoghurt, preferably full fat
1/2 - 1 tbsp olive oil
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp EACH dried dill, parsley, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper (Note 1)
1/2 tsp white sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice, to taste
200 - 250 g / 7 - 8 oz chicken breast, halved horizontally
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 - 1 tbsp oil, for cooking
1/2 red onion, halved then finely sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
3 cups kale, torn into bite size pieces (Note 2)
1 - 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 grapefruit or orange
4 cups cos lettuce, romaine or other crispy lettuce, torn or cut into bite size pieces
1/2 fennel, shaved (0.5 mm / 1/5" thickness) or finely sliced
Handful snow pea sprouts, optional
1/4 cup shredded parmesan

Steps

Mix the Yoghurt Ranch Dressing ingredients in a bowl. Adjust olive oil + lemon juice to taste.
Chicken Marinade: Transfer 1/4 cup of Yoghurt Ranch Dressing into a bowl with the chicken. Add lemon juice and garlic. Toss to coat, marinate for 1 hr - 24 hours.
Place Pickled Onion ingredients in a bowl, toss to coat. Set aside for 1 hour+ or until onion is softened (if in a rush, make sure the onion is finely sliced = faster pickle).
Place kale in a large bowl, drizzle with oil then sprinkle with salt. Use your fingers to massage the oil onto the leaves - you want to ensure every part of the kale is coated in oil. Set aside for 30 minutes or until kale is softened.
Segment the grapefruit or orange - watch the video. Do this over a bowl to catch juices. Squeeze all remaining juice out of the membrane after segmenting.
Pour juices into the Dressing. Mix - it should now be more of a Dressing consistency.
Cook Chicken: Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until nicely charred. Transfer onto plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 3 minutes. Slice thinly.
Assemble Salad: Add lettuce, fennel and chicken into the kale bowl. Spoon over most of the dressing to coat everything lightly, then toss well. Transfer into a serving bowl.
Scatter over grapefruit, onion (not the liquid), top with a handful of snow pea sprouts, sprinkle over parmesan. Drizzle over remaining dressing to taste. Serve!

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 611 g
Calories: 479 kcal

Reviews

LUCY on 2024-08-03 (5 stars):
Nagi, you have delivered once again! What a great tip for softening the kale- I used Cavolo Nero! I used Mizithra cheese in lieu of Parmesan and I used both ruby grapefruit and navel orange supremes for the citrus burst. For the dressing, I managed to locate buttermilk powder so I incorporated it into the Greek yoghurt. I added a bit of dried Greek oregano to the chicken marinade and employed the Indian Dhungar Method to impart a delicious smokiness to the chicken! I never would have thought to combine all these ingredients but it really works!
Elizabeth Rutkowski on 2023-08-16 (5 stars):
Lived in SF for 10 years and after moving out of state, I missed this Souvla salad SO much! This recipe was quite close to the original (without a rotisserie machine) and now I know how to make sectioned orange (that took me a while with a knife)...
Gayle on 2020-10-19 (5 stars):
This was amazing—one of those salads where every ingredient has a key role to play. And the dressing is healthy enough that you don’t feel bad being generous! Definitely going into the “make again” folder.
Amy Morgan on 2020-02-05 (5 stars):
Really yummy salad! I did have to cook my chicken quite a bit longer, but everything was really delicious together!
Sara J on 2019-05-29 (5 stars):
I love this recipe! well i love every recipe on this site. You've helped me fall in love with cooking! THANK YOU!
amber on 2017-08-07 (5 stars):
there are many coupons/promo codes you can use for few dollars/percentages off here and there as well. just google for them. first time ordering on their website or app gets you 10% off, etc ... customer service is really great. have to email, but once, ordered pea protein and it spilled all over the box during shipment ... they refunded me a week later!
amber on 2017-08-06 (5 stars):
I order my buttermilk powder from www.iherb.com. actually, I order a LOT of food stuff from iHerb that I used to get in the US! If you're strategic, you can even get free shipping to Australia (orders over $50 and less than 10 lbs ... and any item with "shipping saver" lowers shipping cost). and no duties if less than $700 https://au.iherb.com/pr/now-foods-real-food-buttermilk-powder-14-oz-397-g/10522