Saturday, July 7, 2012

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:

8 comments:

  1. Your chicken salad sound so great! I will have to try it, I never have roasted chicken for using in chicken salad. Sounds like you had a great luncheon with your family.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. yummy!!! i love this kind of salad, though it is not at all common in our kind of food habit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful family you all make! And that salad looks divine (as do all your recipes). I've pinned it for future use. Looks so refreshing on this very hot day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love chicken salad. I dress mine with a combination of mayo and greek yogurt and put celery, walnuts or slivered almonds, and grapes in it! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can now see where you get your good looks! I wish I could make food look like you do. The problem is: I'm just not a good cook. And the usual reason why you're not a good cook is you don't take to it easily. I'm lazy when it comes to meals. And you take such great photos of it too! Now I'm off to see that dining room I missed.
    Brenda

    ReplyDelete
  6. That recipe sounds delish! Thanks for sharing! I think my husband would really enjoy this!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks terrific! I love your use of Greek yogurt! I have been using it more and more in recipes - I generally use grapes and pecans in our chicken salad - yours sounds intriguing - perfect for a lady's lunch out! We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Toccoa, Georgia - the northeast corner of Georgia - it was beautiful! The Innkeeper prepared 3 course breakfasts and also is an exceptional cake decorator - a treat if you're ever in Toccoa!
    So glad you stopped by and delighted your an Anne Kindred Spirit!
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my gosh this looks so good and you are all so gorgeous and tell your mom she looks as young as her daughters. Good genes you have girlie!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for sweetening my day with your cozy comments!