The snow has started falling again in Ohio. Earlier this week, we actually had nice spring-like weather. The temperature dropped again during the weekend. Today, the snow and slush began to pick up in the afternoon. I went for my usual Sunday morning run. Other than going to the gym in the morning, I stayed inside for most of today to avoid the snow. To continue on the early Valentine’s Day celebration, I’m sharing my recipe for berry chicken salad with lemon Dijon dressing. I made this salad as part of an early Valentine’s Day celebration dinner with Kevin yesterday. We had a simple dinner of homemade garlic knots with marinara sauce, hearty pepperoni cast iron pizza, and a berry chicken salad with lemon Dijon dressing. Whenever I have a carbohydrate heavy meal, I like to serve the meal with a side salad. I like the balance of a fresh, light salad with the hearty pizza and garlic knots. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I wanted my salad to have redness. Thus, in addition to blueberries and blackberries, I also added some strawberries and raspberries. To round out the rest of my salad, I grilled some chicken, crumbled some blue cheese, and served all of the fresh ingredients over a bed of spinach, lettuce, and arugula blend. To complement the berry and chicken salad, I made a very simple lemon-based dressing. I combined lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, kosher salt, freshly cracked tricolor pepper, and a neutral oil in a small bowl and then served the dressing alongside the salad. By serving the dressing on the side, Kevin and I can control the amount of dressing on our salad. I tend to prefer a lightly dressed salad. Kevin prefers a much more dressed salad. We couldn’t finish the entire salad and ended up packing some of the salad for lunch later in the week. I also packed up the leftover dressing into a smaller container to serve alongside the salad later this week.
Berry Chicken Salad with Lemon Dijon Dressing:
For the berry chicken salad:
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 2 chicken breasts, cut horizontally in half
· 2 cups spinach, kale, and arugula blend
· ¼ cup halved strawberries
· ¼ cup raspberries
· ¼ cup blackberries
· ¼ cup blueberries
· 2 ounces blue cheese
For the lemon Dijon dressing:
· juice from a whole lemon
· 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
· ½ tablespoon honey
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked tricolor pepper
· 2 tablespoons soybean oil
Directions:
1) Heat a grill pan on medium heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Grill the chicken breasts on the grill pan for 2-3 minutes on each side until the chicken is cooked through. Let the chicken breasts rest for 5 minutes before cutting into thin strips.
2) In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, kale, arugula, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and blue cheese. Add the thinly sliced chicken breasts to the salad.
3) To make the lemon Dijon dressing, combine the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper, and soybean oil in a small bowl. Stir until the dressing is smooth. Serve the dressing alongside the salad.
Takeaways: I make this salad a lot for lunch and dinner during the springtime. To dress up the salad even more, you can add toasted walnuts, candied pecans, or both. You can also add a thinly sliced apple, dried cranberries, or golden raisins to take the salad to the next level.