This is my favorite “in office” salad.  It’s easy to make on site, and offers me a lot of proverbial bang for my buck.  Buying a pre-cooked boneless chicken breast, a tomato and an avocado at the grocery store is an inexpensive fix to the great lunch connundrum.  I keep a set of “real” silverware (including a reasonable knife), decent extra virgin olive oil, a small mill for cracked black pepper, tabasco and some white wine vinegar at my desk (we’ve talked about how I allow vinegar into my diet).  That way I have options if the “lunch run” of the day is to a sandwich shop, and I’m uninspired by my options.  When I’m uninspired, I’m more likely to stray into grilled cheese and fries.

1 avocado, cubed

1 medium sized tomato (preferably heirloom), cubed

1 grilled boneless chicken breast, cubed

citrus dressing

generous amounts of cracked black pepper.

PALEO POINTER:  When cubing an avocado, I find it helpful to slice the whole thing in half with a sharp knife, with the edge sort of orbiting the pit.  Twist the halves to open.  Make a chopping motion with your knife onto the pit, which should give you just enough purchase to twist and discard.  If you can’t easily twist and discard, the avocado probably isn’t ripe enough.  I mean at that point, what are you going to do?  It’s not like you can put it away.  The avocado will be more…watery?  And less creamy.  And firmer.  Suck it up, buttercup.

Make a grid of slices that go (carefully!) to the skin.  This grid makes your cubes, which I find easier to pop out of the skin.  You’re welcome to pop the whole skin off and then cube the halves then, I just think this is a little neater and a lot easier.

Basically, Hour of Power is a cube-and-mix salad, much like a fridge salad.

You can use this as one serving, or as two separate appetizer salads or side salads (I call those half hours of power).  You can spruce it up a bit by adding some greens like chopped spinach, flat leaf parsley or some basil.  But it’s something you can easily make with a stop to the grocery store.

Have at it.

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