I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t enjoy making salads. I love to order one when I’m out, but it’s not something I make at home very often … except a small salad to accompany our dinner. That being said, I was thinking about grilled chicken on a salad all day so that’s what I decided to make for dinner.

I marinated thin sliced chicken breasts in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, after sprinkling them all over with kosher salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence. I let them sit in the refrigerator to marinate for 3 hours.

I grilled the chicken on my cooktop on my indoor grill pan. I still think this is one of the best gifts Dennis has bought me. I saw this all-clad grill pan at Williams-Sonoma a few years ago and knew I’d get so much use out of it, so Dennis purchased it as a Christmas gift for me. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving. I probably use it once a week.

One the chicken had cooked on each side for 3 minutes, I removed the breasts to a small plate to rest.

As the chicken rested, I put my salad together. I started with a large handful of arugula in each serving bowl, topped with pecans, goat cheese, sliced strawberries and blackberries.

I made my dressing while the chicken was resting. For the dressing, I started with a quarter cup of olive oil in a measuring cup. To that, I added one tablespoon of dijon mustard, the juice of one lemon, 2 cloves of minced garlic, kosher salt and pepper. This is how I always make my salad dressing. Our friend, Neil, made the dressing for me the night we had our pizza party and game night – he makes the best salad dressing ever. Maybe one day he’ll let me share his recipe with you all. It was divine!

This was enough salad dressing for two salads, with enough left for Dennis to use for his lunch tomorrow.

I drizzled the dressing over each salad before I sliced the chicken to add to the top of our salads.

Dennis absolutely loved this salad. Maybe I’ll find myself making more salads like this for dinner … especially now that the weather is getting warmer.

Ingredients for Chicken

3 thin sliced chicken breasts

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Ingredients for Salad

arugula

sliced strawberries

blackberries

goat cheese

pecans

Ingredients for Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of one lemon

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 cloves minced garlic

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place chicken in a dish to marinate. Sprinkle kosher salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence over both sides of the chicken.
2. Pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar over chicken. Let marinate in refrigerator for 3 hours, up to 8 hours.
3. Bring chicken out of refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. Grill on indoor grill pan, or outside grill for 2-3 minutes per side. Internal temperature should read 165 for chicken to be done. You can remove chicken from grill at 160 degrees, the temperature will rise to 165 while it’s resting.
4. In a measuring cup, add 1/4 olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic, kosher salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to use.
5. In large salad bowls, place arugula, goat cheese, strawberries, blackberries and pecans.
6. Drizzle dressing over salad.
7. Slice chicken and place on top of salad.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris