It’s been beautiful in San Diego this week, even a little on the warm side if you are inland a bit. Since it’s been so nice and sunny (what happened to “June Gloom” this year?), I was craving a salad for dinner.

I knew I wanted roasted chicken in my salad and fresh strawberries. I built it from there while I was at the market selecting my ingredients. This salad would satisfy Dennis’ meal requirements that he’s been following through the SealFit plan and would satisfy my requirement for a tasty meal that is good for me.

In preparation for roasting my chicken, I placed it on a large sheet pan on a piece of parchment paper and patted the chicken dry with a paper towel before seasoning it. To season the chicken, I drizzled olive oil onto the chicken, sprinkled kosher salt, pepper and Italian seasoning onto the breasts. Next, I placed slices of garlic over the chicken. I wanted this chicken to be really flavorful so I used a lot of garlic. Once the garlic was in place, I zested a lemon over the chicken and squeezed the juice of one large and juicy lemon over the top. Garlic, fresh lemon, Italian seasoning … what more could you ask for on your chicken on such a beautiful day.

(You’ll notice on this picture, there are four breasts. I’ll be giving you the ingredients as if you were making two. The salad calls for two breasts, but I wanted to make a couple extra so that Dennis could have one for lunch tomorrow and I could add one to pasta for dinner tomorrow night.)

I placed the chicken in a preheated 425 degree oven for 40 minutes. These were large breasts, if you have smaller breasts, place them in the oven for 30-35 minutes … making sure to check that the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

While the chicken was roasting, I boiled a couple ears of corn to add to the salad. I also sliced a cucumber, a 16 ounce container of strawberries, half a red onion, and 1 jalapeño (making sure to remove the seeds). Once the vegetables and fruit had been cut, I toasted 2/3 cup of walnuts to add to my summer salad.

Just look at all the vibrant color from the vegetables and fruit! Doesn’t that just scream “summer freshness” and “healthy”?!

I used a spring mix for our salad tonight. I debated between fresh spinach leaves and the spring mix. Feel free to use whichever one you prefer.

For the dressing, I whisked together olive oil, white wine balsamic vinegar, honey, lime juice, minced shallots, kosher salt and pepper. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the dressing, but it is quite simple to make. You’ll find the recipe listed below.

When putting the salad together, I started with the spring mix, then topped it with the red onion, cucumber, corn, strawberries and sliced chicken … topping everything with goat cheese and walnuts.

This salad could easily be served with a glass of chilled white wine or a margarita. The first thing I thought about when I added the jalapeños to the salad was just that … a margarita. Summer is here, yippee for that!

Ingredients

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 ears fresh corn

1/2 red onion, sliced in quarter rounds

1 cucumber, sliced and quartered

16 ounce container strawberries

1 jalapeño, seeds and membrane removed

2/3 cup walnuts

Ingredients for Dressing

juice of 2-3 limes, depending on juiciness

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons minced shallots

pinch of kosher salt

pinch of fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place chicken on large sheet pan. Pat dry with paper towel and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper and Italian seasoning over chicken. Place the sliced garlic over the chicken and add the lemon zest and lemon juice.
3. Place in oven for 30-40 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
4. Place corn in large pot of water and boil until crisp tender (about 10-15 minutes)
5. Slice cucumber, onion, strawberries and jalapeño and set aside.
6. Once corn has finished cooking, remove from water and set aside. Once it’s cooled a bit, remove the kernels from the ear.
7. In glass measuring cup, whisk together olive oil, white wine vinegar, lime juice, honey, shallots, salt and pepper. Set aside.
8. Toast walnuts on the stove top in a small skillet for about 5 minutes. Set aside.
9. Once chicken is done, let it rest on a board for 10 minutes. Then slice in strips.
10. Build your salad – spring mix, onion, cucumber, corn, strawberries and chicken. Top with walnuts and goat cheese.

Enjoy!

Until net time, Kris