Ladies Luncheon Strawberry Chicken Salad

This is a pretty salad that I put together for my Mom and sister when they came for a visit about a week ago.  They were coming to stay the night, but arrived at mid-day, so I wanted to have a nice little lunch for them when they walked in the door.  After a long drive, there's nothing more inviting than a freshly made meal or dessert waiting for your arrival!  Maybe it's just me, but I love that!

My husband and I love going to Bed & Breakfasts for a weekend away, and that's one special thing they usually provide when you arrive! Many we've stayed at will have fresh baked cookies or muffins, hot popcorn, fresh coffee or tea....just something that says, Welcome, we're so glad you're here!!!

I got this idea of adding strawberries to chicken salad from a recent issue of Southern Living magazine. I changed the recipe to suit our tastes, and it was just wonderful! I didn't go by an exact recipe, but "eye-balled" most of the ingredients while tasting as I went. I only added a little bit of green onion, but I thought the onion is what gave it a nice savory quality.  The honey simply should be for a subtle sweetness to compliment the strawberries and contrast the salt.

Chocked full of sliced green onion, fresh strawberries, sunflower seeds and sliced almonds in a Greek yogurt dressing, this salad was perfect served on sweet Hawaiian buns and simply served with wavy potato chips, pickles and olives. I also made homemade, fresh strawberry-limeade, but I'm so disappointed that I didn't take any pictures of it. It was soooo good!! Guess, that means I'll have to make it again!?!  ;)

This salad was something we all agreed was fantastic for a ladies lunch, and just right for the incredibly hot day it was!  We had a wonderful time catching up together as we sat in my new dining room eating and enjoying the company!  We did some shopping at Home Goods, dinner at an authentic Mediterranean favorite restaurant called The Grape Leaf, watched some Downton Abbey (my favorite!), shopped at The Fresh Market (another favorite!) and more cooking.  We had such a fun time together!  As always, it's a little sad to see my family leave to go back home, but we made the most of our time together!

Maybe this lovely strawberry chicken salad--or an inspired version--can be a part of your "Girl's Day Out", too!

Strawberry Chicken Salad

Chicken Breasts 

Greek Yogurt

Light Mayonnaise

Salt & Pepper

Honey

Poppy seeds

Green Onion, sliced thinly

Roasted & Unsalted Sunflower seeds

Strawberries, halved and sliced thinly

Almonds

When I make chicken salad, I always "roast" the chicken breast.  I used 1 1/2 large chicken breasts for the three of us.

It's Simple: Rub breast with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake at about 350-375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

Allow to cool and shred into pieces.  Set aside.

Mix together equal parts of  Greek yogurt and mayonnaise.  Add salt and pepper, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds a bit of honey, and sliced green onion.  Mix well.  You can make this dressing ahead of time, just refrigerate it.

When you're ready to assemble, add the chicken and strawberries and gently mix together.  Add additional salt and pepper if it needs it.  Serve in a lovely lettuce lined bowl for a pretty presentation and sprinkle almonds over the top.  Chill for up to 2 hours.  Enjoy with the Lovelies in you life!

Here we are right before they left to go back home. *tear*

  I'm in the middle, my sister is on the left, and Mom on the right. 

( Love you both!)

Also, I almost forgot to thank Amelia at Cake Fu for featuring my Lemon Berry Trifle in her festive July 4th blog post!!!  She has some great suggestions and I hope you can check her out!  Thanks, Girl!

I'm linking up with friends: