Why You’ll Love This this Mediterranean Pine Nut & Chicken Summer Salad
This Mediterranean chicken salad takes everything you love about a fresh, vibrant meal and wraps it up in a crispy tortilla bowl that’s basically edible art.
The combination of tender sautéed chicken, crunchy pine nuts, and perfectly julienned vegetables creates this amazing texture party in your mouth, while the lime juice and sherry add just the right amount of zing to make your taste buds do a little happy dance.
It’s the kind of dish that looks fancy enough for company but is forgiving enough that even if you accidentally overcook the chicken or make your vegetable cuts look more like abstract art than perfect julienne, it still tastes incredible.
Ingredients List
This Mediterranean chicken salad combines fresh vegetables, tender chicken, and crunchy pine nuts in a way that makes healthy eating feel like a treat rather than a chore.
- 6 cups vegetable oil (or as needed)
- 4 large tortillas
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
- 1/2 cup snow peas
- 1/2 cup zucchini, julienned
- 1/2 cup carrot, julienned
- 1/2 cup yellow squash, julienned
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, julienned
- 1/2 cup mushroom, sliced
- 1/2 cup scallion, chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup cooking sherry
- 1 cup lime juice, fresh squeezed
- 4 cups tossed salad greens
- 1 lime, sliced
- 4 sprigs cilantro
Health Considerations:
- The deep-fried tortilla bowls add calories and fat, but you can bake them instead for a lighter option
- Pine nuts are nutrient-dense but high in calories, so they pack a lot of healthy fats and protein into a small package
- Fresh lime juice provides vitamin C and helps your body absorb the iron from the greens
- The variety of colorful vegetables guarantees you’re getting different vitamins and antioxidants in every bite
- Olive oil contributes heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that actually help your body process fat-soluble vitamins
Step by Step Directions
The preparation involves creating crispy tortilla bowls and then filling them with a vibrant stir-fried chicken and vegetable mixture.
- Heat 6 cups vegetable oil in a deep fryer or heavy pan to 375°F.
- Press each tortilla into the hot oil with a ladle to form a bowl shape, holding until lightly browned and crisp.
- Remove tortilla bowls and drain on paper towels.
- Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add diced chicken, snow peas, julienned carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, and chopped scallions.
- Sauté for 3-5 minutes until vegetables are slightly tender and chicken is cooked through.
- Add chopped cilantro and pine nuts, tossing to combine.
- Pour in cooking sherry and fresh lime juice, tossing everything together well.
- Remove skillet from heat.
- Arrange salad greens on four individual serving plates.
- Place one tortilla bowl in the center of each plate.
- Fill tortilla bowls with the chicken and vegetable stir-fry mixture.
- Garnish each salad with lime slices and cilantro sprigs.
For even better heat distribution and enhanced flavor development during the stir-frying process, consider using premium copper cookware which provides superior temperature control.
Substitutions and Variations
- Make it spicy – A dash of red pepper flakes or a diced jalapeño turns this from mild-mannered salad to something with a little attitude.
- Herb swaps – Fresh basil or mint can replace cilantro if you’re one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap, which is a real thing and not your fault.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This salad is basically a party on a plate, so why not invite some friends to join the celebration?
- Crusty bread or garlic breadsticks – Because someone needs to soak up all that delicious lime-sherry dressing that pools at the bottom of your tortilla bowl, and it might as well be carbs.
- A simple soup – Gazpacho or a light vegetable broth works beautifully here, though honestly, anything that won’t compete with all the flavors already happening in this dish.
- Roasted sweet potato wedges – They add a touch of sweetness that plays nice with the pine nuts, plus they’re sturdy enough to handle that crispy tortilla without falling apart.
- Fresh fruit salad – Melon, berries, or even some diced mango will cleanse your palate between bites, which trust me, you’ll appreciate when you’re halfway through this flavor journey.
- A cold beer or crisp white wine – Because sometimes you need something invigorating to wash down all those beautiful, complex flavors, and water just feels a little too virtuous for a meal this indulgent.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
Look, I’m going to level with you – this recipe has more moving parts than my teenager’s drama, but don’t let that scare you off.
- Get your mise en place together first – Trust me on this one, because once you start frying tortillas and sautéing vegetables, things move fast and you don’t want to be frantically chopping cilantro while your chicken overcooks.
- Test your oil temperature with a small piece of tortilla – If it bubbles aggressively and starts browning within 30 seconds, you’re golden, but if it just sits there looking sad, give your oil more time to heat up.
- Use a spider strainer or long tongs for the tortilla bowls – Your hands will thank you for keeping them far away from 375-degree oil, and you’ll have better control when shaping those bowls.
- Don’t overcrowd your skillet when cooking the chicken and veggies – Everything needs room to breathe and actually sauté instead of steam, so work in batches if your pan is on the smaller side.
- Save some of that lime juice for a final squeeze – Add most of it during cooking, but hold back a tablespoon or two to brighten everything up just before serving, because cooked citrus and fresh citrus are completely different animals.
- Let your tortilla bowls cool completely before filling – Hot tortillas plus cold greens equals soggy disappointment, and nobody has time for that kind of textural confusion.
Nutritional Facts
This colorful salad packs serious nutritional punch with lean protein, healthy fats, and plenty of fresh vegetables.
- Calories: Approximately 650-700 per serving (including tortilla bowl)
- Protein: 35-40 grams from chicken breast and pine nuts – excellent for muscle maintenance and satiety
- Healthy Fats: 25-30 grams primarily from olive oil and pine nuts, providing heart-healthy monounsaturated fats
- Carbohydrates: 45-50 grams mainly from the tortilla bowl and vegetables
- Fiber: 6-8 grams from the mixed vegetables and greens, supporting digestive health
- Vitamin C: Over 100% daily value from bell peppers, lime juice, and cilantro – major immune system boost
- Vitamin A: 80-90% daily value from carrots and mixed greens, supporting eye health
- Folate: Significant amounts from the leafy greens and cilantro
- Potassium: Good source from zucchini, mushrooms, and lime juice for heart health
- Iron: Moderate amounts from chicken and pine nuts
- Sodium: Relatively low (under 400mg) since the recipe relies on fresh ingredients rather than processed foods
- Antioxidants: High levels from the colorful vegetable mix, particularly the bell peppers and cilantro
Fun “Did You Know?”
Ever wonder why pine nuts cost more than most other nuts?
I’ve realized they’re harvested from pine cones that take 18 months to mature! Workers must hand-extract each tiny nut from the cone’s scales, making it incredibly labor-intensive.
Here’s another fascinating fact: despite their name, pine nuts aren’t technically nuts at all—they’re seeds.
The Mediterranean varieties we love come primarily from stone pines in Italy, Spain, and Greece.
What’s amazing is that one pine tree can live over 700 years, continuously producing these precious little gems that add such incredible flavor to our summer salads.
