Dill Pickle Salad

This simple and nutritious chicken salad recipe incorporates diced dill pickles and pickle juice for a burst of flavor. Perfect for preparing in advance or for meal prepping lunches, it's a tasty way to utilize leftover cooked chicken.

If you have a fondness for pickles, you're in for a treat! Inspired by the Trader Joe's Dill-icious Chopped Salad Kit, I created a healthier version.

• The salad showcases the tangy and salty essence of dill pickles, both in the garnish and the salad dressing. For an extra twist, consider adding dill-based sauerkraut such as Wildbrine or opt for a wholesome pickle chip brand like Siete Foods.

Interested in more effortless meal prep lunch ideas?

• Dill pickle salad is a speedy dish, taking only 25 minutes from start to finish.

• Rich in gut-friendly probiotics, high in protein, and low in carbs.

• A convenient method to use up leftover batch-cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken.

• The pickle flavor will leave you craving more!

GUT-FRIENDLY MEAL ADVANTAGES

To enhance your beneficial bacteria levels, this meal is part of a seven-day meal plan that emphasizes foods promoting healthy gut bacteria growth and maintenance.

You can access this meal plan through the Nourished Roots Membership Plan! Here's the direct link for access!

Check out the fun meal prep hacks in the video below!

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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This simple and nutritious chicken salad recipe incorporates diced dill pickles and pickle juice for a burst of flavor. Perfect for preparing in advance or for meal prepping lunches, it's a tasty way to utilize leftover cooked chicken.

SERVINGS: 4 PREP TIME: 15 MIN COOK TIME: 25 MIN

Ingredients

SALAD BASE

• 3 cups shredded chicken (can use rotisserie)

• 4 cups massaged kale

• 1 cup dill pickles, chopped

• 1/2 cup radishes, sliced

• 2-4 hard boiled eggs

• 1-2 cups crushed crackers

• 1 cup sauerkraut (optional)

SALAD DRESSING

• 1 cup plain greek yogurt

• 2-4 Tbsp pickle brine

• 1 Tbsp dill weed (can take from dill container)

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp maple syrup

• S+P (to season)

Directions:

• To make dressing: In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. Taste test to see if you need to add more seasoning, acid, or more pickle chunks!

• To assemble the salad, combine all vegetable ingredients from SALAD BASE to a large mixing bowl and toss to combine well. Add in dressing and breadcrumbs and toss and garnish with quartered or halved eggs, serve and enjoy!

*To make hardboiled eggs: Place eggs in a small pot. Cover eggs with water and cover pot with lid. Bring water to boil. Once boiling, turn off and set a timer for 12-14 min. When done, drain and place eggs in an ice cold water bath to stop the cooking process. Peel the shells off once cool to touch.

Notes: I use this brand crackers so that this recipe is gluten and grain free!

Chicken Harvest Bowl

Chicken Harvest Bowl with juicy marinated chicken thighs, roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potato, massaged kale, goat cheese, pecans, apple and a creamy balsamic dressing. 

This harvest bowl is packed with delicious fall flavor influences that is perfect for a healthy lunch meal prep option or dinner. Gluten-free, grain-free, macro balanced and dairy-free friendly. 

If you know anything about me, you know that nourish bowls are my favorite! From the Nourished Cookbook to the Nourishment Program - I absolutely love the art of batch cooking. 

If you can allocate one or two days out of your week to prepare batch cook items, you will have the freedom to create different meals so that you won’t have to eat the same meal twice if you don’t want to! How fun and easy is that?!

With that said, here is a fall inspired nourish bowl that you can create for lunch meal prep or for dinner! 

Chicken harvest bowl components based on the Six Senses Nourish Meal Template from The Nourishment Program: 

1. Starchy + sugary carbs: sweet potatoes, honey, apple

2. Non starchy carbs: massaged kale, brussels sprouts

3. Protein: Chicken thighs + pecans + goat cheese

4. Fat: oil, chicken thighs, goat cheese, nut butter

5. Flavor: seasonings galore! Coconut aminos (or teriyaki sauce)

6. Probiotics: balsamic vinegar

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Chicken Harvest Bowl with juicy marinated chicken thighs, roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potato, massaged kale, goat cheese, pecans, apple and a creamy balsamic dressing. 

SERVINGS: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MIN | COOK TIME: 45 MIN

Ingredients

Chicken marinade

• 1 lb chicken thighs

• 1/3 cup coconut aminos or teriyaki sauce

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• S&P

Sweet potatoes

• 2-4 sweet potatoes, cubed

• 1 tsp each smoked paprika & garlic powder

• dash of cinnamon

• 1 Tbsp oil

Brussels sprouts

• 1 lb brussels sprouts

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 Tbsp oil

Balsamic dressing

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

• 2 Tbsp nut butter

• 1-2 Tbsp water

• 1 Tbsp honey

• S&P

Bowl components

• 1/2 cup pecans

• 1/2 cup goat cheese

• 1 large apple

• massaged kale or regular leafy greens

Directions

1. Marinate your chicken first by seasoning chicken thighs generously with S&P. Mix marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag and transfer chicken to the bag. Seal bag, massage chicken in juices while sealed and place in the fridge to marinate for 30 min or up to 8 hrs.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Add diced sweet potatoes in seasoning mixture and halved Brussels sprouts in seasoning mixture on baking sheet. Toss in oil and roast in the oven for 35-45 min until tender.

4. You can either roast chicken thighs in the oven at the same time and on a different baking sheet or grill / cook in a skillet.

5. To make dressing: add the balsamic vinegar, nut butter, salt, honey and 1 Tbsp water to a small mason jar. Shake vigorously and add more water if you want a thinner consistency.

6. Prep the remaining ingredients: dice the apple, crumble goat cheese, roughly chop pecans and follow massaged kale recipe if not using leafy greens.

7. Assembly! Evenly divide the greens, chicken, roasted veggies, apples, goat cheese and nuts. Serve with creamy balsamic dressing and enjoy! 

Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Nice Cream Sandwiches

Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Nice Cream Sandwiches - Made with an easy homemade banana ice cream, sandwiched between two soft chewy cookies and half drenched in a salted dark chocolate shell. 

(Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and grain-free)

Hands. Down. My favorite dessert on this blog! 

I feel like I always say that but as the stakes get higher, so does the quality of desserts and I’m telling you, this one will be hard to beat! 

Honestly, if you just read the tag line and see notes of homemade, soft and chewy, drenched, salted on top of the best dessert words like ice cream, cookie, dark chocolate shell - it’s like my taste buds are crying for joy! 

And my taste buds continue to cry as I make this dessert time and time again! 

It’s honestly a flawed system because my intentions are to make a big batch, store them in the freezer, so that I can have them longer. But since I know that I have the best dessert ever in my freezer just seconds away from my room, I can’t help but to run straight to the freezer and possibly (cough* eat all of them within days…). Again, as my taste buds scream in delight - sorry, not sorry! 

I would like to mention before you dive right into the recipe that this dessert recipe can be taken apart if you find yourself short for time, don’t have the patience to make banana nice cream, or just simply want to make one recipe over the other - completely up to you! Personally, the cookie recipe is hands down my favorite of them all! They really should have their own blog post on their own (make mental note). 

But if you really want to make this recipe and don’t have time, just simply cut corners by purchasing a good quality ice cream vs making homemade nice cream. This is also the right decision if you are allergic to bananas. Enough said.

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a photo to #fromtherootsblog on Instagram. We love seeing what you come up with!

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Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Nice Cream Sandwiches - Made with an easy homemade banana ice cream, sandwiched between two soft chewy cookies and half drenched in a salted dark chocolate shell. 

(Dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and grain-free)

PREP TIME: 45 MIN | COOK TIME: 15 MIN | SERVINGS: 12 COOKIES

Cookies 

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup cashew or sunflower butter

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

• 1/2 cup cassava flour

• 1/4 cup coconut oil

• 2 Tbsp plant based milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Nice cream

• 2 cups frozen banana slices (1 large banana)

• 2-4 Tbsp milk of choice

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• pinch of sea salt

Salted Dark Chocolate Shell

• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• Smoked (or regular) sea salt flakes

Directions

1. Prepare the cookie dough by combining the wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients minus chocolate chips until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and set cookie batter in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. 

2. While the dough is chilling, prepare the banana nice cream by combining all ingredients into a blender or processor until smooth and creamy. May adjust the liquid portion as you want a "soft serve" texture. Transfer ice cream to a bread pan to freeze. 

3. Freeze banana nice cream for 1-2 hours so that it hardens enough to scoop like ice cream, but isn't too hard where you can't scoop it. 

4. When you are ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

5. Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 1-2 Tbsp of cookie dough and roll into a ball (if 2 Tbsp will make 6 large cookies | 1 Tbsp 12 cookies) 

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes and let rest for 10 minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack. 

7. Top with smoky flaky sea salt and eat as is or wait oh so patiently so that you can make either ice cream sandwiches or crumble the cookies into the ice cream and make cookie dough ice cream! 

8. If you want to dip the ice cream sandwiches into chocolate, simply melt 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips with 1 tbsp coconut oil and dip premade sandwiches into the melted chocolate. Set sandwiches on a freezer safe plate and freeze for 5-10 min or longer until ready to eat! Sprinkle additional sea salt flakes on chocolate just before you put them in the freezer!

9. Eat immediately or store in the freezer in a freezer safe container for up to a month...if you can wait that long! 

Notes

• If you need a great dark chocolate recommendation, I highly recommend Hu Kitchen! Use code FROMTHEROOTS for 15% your first order!

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