Avocado and citrus fruit is my favorite winter combo. You must start with good quality citrus fruit: grapefruit, oranges, blood oranges (whatever your preference) and perfectly ripe avocado. I shop at Harmons Grocery for for the freshest produce. While I’ve most commonly topped salads with this tasty combo, enjoying them over chicken tacos may be even better than over greens. These chicken and chickpea tacos topped with citrus and avocado salsa can be made in less than 30 minutes and are perfect for a weeknight meal or a meal with friends.
While getting ripe avocado and deeply flavorful citrus fruit should definitely be at the top of your list for this recipe, you must also think about your meat and chickpeas. Harmons sells their own brand of organic chickpeas that just seem more firm and less processed than other canned chickpeas. Their chicken is also a wonderful choice as it is antibiotic free, hormone free and 100% vegetarian fed. It’s also hand trimmed by their butchers so you don’t have to re-trim off any fat once you bring the meat home.
Dietitians Choice Label – Look for the green tag highlighting the most nutritious items in every category around the store at Harmons. From meat to grains and boxed foods you can easily see what foods their staff dietitian recommends. Yes, I go to a grocery store that has a staff dietitian, isn’t that awesome?!!
This post was sponsored by Harmons Grocery but all opinions and recipes are my own.
Chicken and Chickpea Tacos with Citrus and Avocado Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning, divided
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon blood olive oil*
- 1 tablespoon honey divided
- 8 corn tortillas, warmed
- 1 cup watercress or greens of your choosing
for the Citrus Avocado Salsa
- 1 avocado, cut into small squares
- 1 orange, segmented
- 1 ruby red grapefruit, segmented
- 1/2- 1 jalapeño, depending on desired spice, finely diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- Slice chicken up into long strips. Mix together 2 tablespoons of the taco seasoning with the orange juice, olive oil, and half of the tablespoon of honey. Add this to the raw chicken and let sit to marinate 1 hour to overnight (if you don't have the time to let the chicken marinate you can skip that step) .
- Rinse the chickpeas then pat dry with a paper towel. Combine chickpeas with the 1 remaining tablespoon of taco seasoning.
- Make the citrus avocado salsa by combining all of the ingredients and tossing just slightly to combine. Store in the fridge until ready to use (this can be made in advance)
- Once chicken is finished marinating heat up a skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and spread out so it's not overlapping. Let cook 3-4 minutes or until browned on one side then flip and cook another 3 minutes or until the chicken is cooked though. Remove chicken from the pan and in the same pan, add in a tablespoon or so of oil. Add in the chickpeas and cook over medium high for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to crisp. Add the other half of the honey (1/2 tablespoon) to the chickpeas and stir, cooking for just 30 seconds. The honey will help the chickpeas to crisp up even further. Transfer the cooked chickpeas to a bowl and combine with the chicken.
- To assemble the tacos layer the watercress greens on the warmed tortillas, then add some chicken and chickpeas and top with the citrus avocado salsa.
Notes
My taco seasoning blend –
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
