Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad

Yep, I’m posting another salad recipe.  I know, I know….but I can’t help myself.  There are just endless way to combine endless ingredients and they all taste insanely delicious.  As an added bonus, I find salads are the best sort of whole meal in one dish, making it ideal for my busy life.

This is the type of salad that hits all the right notes.  Smokey grilled chicken, sweet strawberries and tangy balsamic vinegar are the perfect combination.   Oh, and did I mention there is very little cooking involved?  I’ll take that on a hot summer night any day.

There really isn’t anything too complicated about the preparation of this salad.   You’ll want to start by marinating a few chicken breasts in your favorite Italian dressing.   I did this first thing in the morning and refrigerated them until dinner.   Grill the chicken on high for about 15 minutes and allow to rest while you are preparing the remainder of the salad.

The real little gem in this salad is the strawberries.  They are so perfectly ripe this time of year.  You’ll want to wash and chop about a cup and a half of these.  Aaaannnnd you might need to throw in a few extra in case you can’t resist and need a pre-dinner snack.

While the strawberries are drying, prepare some sugared almonds.   Simply throw a half cup of slivered almond into a pan with 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp water.  Allow the sugar to melt, get bubbly and coat the almonds.  Pour onto parchment paper and allow them to harden and then break them apart into small pieces.

The rest is simple.  Cut up the remainder of your vegetables and slice the chicken.  Place all of the ingredients over a bed of mixed greens and toss with a store bought or homemade balsamic vinaigrette.   Serve alone as a light main dish or alongside something more decadent to make you feel better about what you are eating.  Either way, it’s delicious!

Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad (adapted from Recipe Girl–served 2-4)

Ingredients:

Salad:

6 cups mixed greens or spinach

1 1/2 cups ripe strawberries, washed and sliced

3/4 cup chopped cucumber

1 1/2 cups grilled chicken that has been marinated in your favorite store bought Italian dressing

1 avocado, sliced

1/3 cup blue cheese or feta cheese

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 tbsp brown sugar

Vinaigrette:

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp strawberry jelly

salt and pepper

Directions:

Prepare the almonds by placing them in a skillet with the brown sugar and 1 tsp water.  Allow the sugar to melt and bubble until thickened and fully coating the almonds.  Pour the almonds onto parchment paper and allow to harden.  Break apart and set aside.  Mix all of the vinaigrette ingredients and shake together until emulsified.   Wash and slice the fruit, vegetables and chicken and place all ingredients in a bowl.  Toss with the vinaigrette.