Grilled Chicken & Berry Salad

Oh My Yumminess!!! i made this last night for dinner and I am in L-O-V-E! It was so quick and easy, and lets not forget refreshing and delicious! I got the recipe from Our Best Bites Blog. Here it is and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :)

Grilled Chicken & Berry Salad

Posted By Kate @ Our Best Bites On 06.28.2011 @ 12:01 am

Grilled Chicken & Berry SaladRecipe by Our Best Bites, Inspired by the Pigtailed Red-Head of Hamburger Fame
1/2 head Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces (I just bought a bag of pre-mixed romaine and baby spinach)
6-8 oz. baby spinach
12-16 oz. chicken, marinated, grilled, and sliced* ( I used 1 Chicken breast for 2 1/4 eaters)
8 oz. strawberries, sliced
8 oz. blueberries
4 oz. crumbled Feta or shredded fresh Parmesan cheese (I used Feta because I love it on my salads)
1 c. sliced almonds, toasted
Berry Poppy Seed Dressing to taste
For serving a large crowd, toss all the salad ingredients in a large serving bowl and add dressing to taste. For individual servings, arrange ingredients on plates and serve the dressing on the side. Makes about 8 side dish servings and 4 main dish servings.
*For a vegetarian dish, omit the chicken.

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Berry Poppy Seed VinaigretteRecipe by Our Best Bites

1/2 c. white wine vinegar
1/2 c. honey (or sugar)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 tsp. kosher or other coarse salt
About 10 cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 c. raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries (I used strawberries in mine, but I am sure any berry would be delish)
2/3 c. canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

Combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Curried Apple Salad

It sounds a little crazy, but honestly it is surprising how many people like the flavor of this super simple salad. I hope you do too!

Salad
3 lrg. apples (I prefer Fuji)
2-3 celery stalks, from the center w/ leaves attached (there is a ton of good flavor in celery leaves)
3/4 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 - 2/3 cup of chopped walnuts, lightly toast on a dry pan before chopping
1/3 cup of chopped flat Italian parsley

• Combine all the salad ingredients into a bowl

Dressing
1/2 - 3/4 cup of mayo (depending on how creamy you like it)
Juice of one lemon
1 small shallot, finely minced (optional, but good)
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

•  Mix the dressing in a smaller seperate bowl until well incorporated and gently fold the dressing into the salad.  ENJOY!

Picnic Potato Salad

This is my FAVORITE recipe. The potatoes are soft and bite sized, the celery is cut to give a little crunch but not a mouthful in itself. There are NO raw onions because I can't stand that bitter after taste. Make sure to allow enough time for all the ingredients to cool.

I sometimes cook the eggs and potatoes the night before, then mix the rest the next day.

--- 2 - 2.5 lbs red skinned potatoes (wash/scrub and remove any bad spots, then cut into bite size pieces)

--- 2 - 3 hard boiled eggs

--- 1 stick of celery, washed and finely chopped

--- 1 - 2 cups of Best Foods brand mayonaise (depending on preference. I use about 1.5C)

--- 2 - 3 Tbls. dijon mustard

--- 1/2 - 3/4 C precooked and crumbled "Bac'n" pieces. These are usually in the produce/salad area or with salad dressings. You can, of course, cook your own bacon, let it cool then crumble it.

--- onion powder (maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp) and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

After the potatoes are washed and bad ends, if any are cut away, 1/4 the potatoes or cut into bite sized pieces. Add to a very large pot of boiling water and cook for 12-18 minutes or until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Or to your desired doneness. Not toooo soft, or else when you mix the other ingredients, they will turn into smashed potatoes.

Drain the water away and let the potatoes cool in the fridge at least an hour or overnight.

Peel and dice hard boiled eggs.

I like to make the "sauce" in a separate bowl: add all the remainder ingredients (mayo, dijon, pepper, celery, bac'n, onion powder) and mix until incorporated. Mix it into the potatoes, gently, until well coated. Adjust mayonnaise and seasonings as needed.

Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Quick and yummy oven roasted Panzanella

Panzanella is an Italian salad consisting of huge dried bread croutons and veggies. The idea is to toast your day old bread, (or a baguette you just bought) and use it as a base to feature season ripe produce. What I did was use ho-hum Roma tomatoes which I seasoned liberally with salt, pepper olive oil, and a thinly sliced shallot and roasted them along side one inch diced up pieces of a whole wheat french loaf that was also liberally seasoned. The result, FANASTICO!! It makes a super hearty side dish, and would obviously take the place of needing a bread with your meal. ENJOY!

Pre-heat your oven to a whopping 425, the idea is to toast your bread and caramelize the tomatoes and shallots.
1 loaf of french bread, I prefer whole wheat for this.
1 large shallot
6-8 Roma tomatoes, or other tomatoes as you prefer, even cherry
2 & 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley

Dice your tomatoes into fairly large pieces, approx 1 inch pieces, they should be roughly the same size as the bread cubes. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Next, thinly slice the shallot into rounds and toss with the oiled and seasoned tomatoes. Set aside in a bowl while the bread is being prepared.

Cube up the loaf into 1 inch pieces and place into a large bowl and toss with the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic powder and the salt and pepper to taste and lightly toss all the ingredients in the bowl together to evenly distribute the the seasonings. At this point you can taste one of the bread cubes and decide if you need to add more salt and pepper.

Place the bread cubes onto a large sheet tray first then add the tomatoes, shallot mixture onto the sheet tray. Pop the tray into the oven and in about 5 minutes check the progress. You are looking for a toasted effect on the bread (color means flavor, yum) and for the tomatoes and shallots to be just caramelized. This will all happen quickly in a matter of no more than 15 minutes if the oven was pre-heated.

Pull out the tray and dump the salad into a large bowl and toss with the chopped parsley and last, enjoy!

Macroni Tuna Salad

This is a good Summer dinner. I cook for a large family and always try to have left overs so the amount this makes might be a little big for some. In addition, the amounts for ingredients is an estimate since I usually just add what I feel like. Make adjustments according to your family's likes.

4 medium tomatoes diced
1 small red onion chopped
1 cup Cheddar Cheese cubed
1 cup Monterey Jack Cheese cubed
4 slices of Ham lunch meat cubed
(all of the above ingredients are done in small pieces)
3 small cans of tuna
1 can of peas
(I usually drain these over the cooked noodles)
6 to 8 cups macaroni noodles
mayonnaise

1) Cook macaroni noodles while chopping other ingredients.

2) Put tomatoes, onion, cheeses, ham, tuna, and peas in large bowl. Add a large spoonful of mayonnaise and mix thoroughly to moisten mixture.

3) Drain and cool noodles in cold water. Once noodles are cool add to the other ingredients. Add more mayonnaise if needed to keep salad moist.

We have had grilled cheese sandwiches with this meal. I enjoy having this for lunch on the following day.

Chicken & Cabbage Salad

This is perfect for a hot summer day.

1 pkg - Ramen Noodles (without the seasoning packet)
1/2 C - Sliced Almonds
2T - Sesame Seeds
3 C - Cabbage (About 1/2 a head)
2 C Chopped Cooked Chicken
1/4C - Green Onions (I usually put about 3-4)

Sauce
3T - Oil
2T - White Wine/Rice Vinegar
2T - Soy Sauce
1tsp - sugar

I season the chicken with whatever seasoning I like and bake it. Let it cool then chop.
Bake noodles, nuts, & seeds @ 350 for about 8-10 min.
Mix all the salad ingredients together.
Mix: Oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar together

Stir everything together and chill before serving. If you don't think that the salad is going to be finished that day then add dressing as you dish so it doesn't get soggy. This way it is still fresh and yummy tasting the next day. :)
(I double the sauce because there doesn't seem to be enough for me)