Chicken mango and avocado salad

It's summer in Brisbane. Hot days, balmy nights and endless days in the pool. These are the times you don't want anything hot happening in your kitchen. Even the air fryer. Even the outdoor BBQ. You want cold food, that's fresh and vibrant and full of flavour. You also want food that's quick and easy to assemble so you can get back to the pool. Or your margarita. This meal ticks every single box.

Serves 6-8 depending on appetites. 

Ingredients for the salad

One bbq chicken from Woolies (or Coles, if you swing that way)
Two ripe mangoes (or two cans of tinned mangoes if you can't find fresh)
One large ripe avocado
One punnet of cherry tomatoes 
One lebanese cucumber
One red onion
One bag of mixed leaves (from Woolies, or Coles if you swing that way)
One bunch of coriander
One packet of slivered almonds - for topping

Ingredients for the dressing

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
3 teaspoons honey
3 garlic clovers, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Start chopping. Get the hubs or the kids involved. Or your mother-in-law if she's with you, might shut up her nagging for a while. 

• Shred the chicken, snack on the skin, you want it to be in reasonably small bite-sized pieces
• Dice the mangoes to about 1cm square. Make sure you chew on the seed.
• Dice the avocado to about 1cm square. Don't chew on the seed. 
• Quarter the cherry tomatoes - or halve them if you're feeling lazy
• Slice then quarter the cucumber
• Chop the onion in half (after you remove the outer skin idiot) and thinly slice
• Chop up the coriander, or if you prefer, pick the leaves
• Toast the slivered almonds (heat a fry pan to moderate, add the almonds - no oil - and kinda toss them around like you're a professional chef until they brown and smell amazing)

Now, start building. I put half the leaves down, then chicken, then half of everything (not the almonds) then do it again. Like a trifle. Just keep moving things around so the colours are evenly spread and the whole bloody thing looks amazing. Top with coriander and toasted almonds. 

For the dressing, put all ingredients in a mason jar and shake. Adjust to suit. I usually end up adding more mustard and honey. Side note - any leftover dressing doesn't need to be refrigerated. 

Serve the dressing on the side. This way, if there's leftovers, they won't get all odd and soggy, but will rise again for a snack the next day. 

Enjoy with a margarita.