Candied Pecan, Celery, Cranberry Salad with Baked Chicken

I have a favorite salad at a restaurant here called Lulu's. It's called the farmstand salad, and it has a really interesting combination of blue cheese, candied pecan, and cranberry. These different ingredients go really well together, especially with the different texture of the crunchy celery. The salad serving size seems to shrink a little bit every time I get it at Lulu's, and the chicken on top is an extra 7 dollars, so it's way more economical to make my own. The chicken doesn't cost a kidney, and I can have my fill of my favorite salad.

Ingredients for the Salad:

5 oz spinach

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2 big stalks of celery cut up into small pieces

3 chicken breasts

Garlic salt, pepper, thyme to season the chicken

A drizzle of olive oil to coat the chicken

1 small handful of blue cheese to top the salad (Unless you hate blue cheese lol)

 

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp honey

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste


You may have some extra vinaigrette left over, that's fine :).

Start by putting your chicken breasts on a baking sheet and brushing on a coating of olive oil. For seasoning, I kept it pretty simple with garlic salt, salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Bake in a 350 degree oven for around 20 minutes.
Then, cut up your celery and roughly chop your candied pecans. You want to make sure there's no whole pecans in the salad, but you don't need to be super precise. Make your vinaigrette, add your dried cranberries, and then combine it all in your salad bowl with the spinach. 
When the chicken is done, you can cut it up, add it to the top of your salad, top with blue cheese, and serve! Salads like this are a perfect recipe for days busy with school/work. 






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