Strawberry Chicken Salad

This is one of those 'just trust me' recipes - savory and sweet can co-exist on your dinner plate. I know - it may sound a bit freaky, but this salad really works. This was our post-gym (Gem) and post wind-trainer (Lester) dinner whipped up in a hurry, and we just happened to have everything on hand.

One thing I really enjoy about cooking, and reading about cooking, is looking at flavour combinations. This is why this salad is a winner - balsamic dressing - strawberries - almonds - chicken - crisp lettuce - avocado - creamy goats chèvre - asparagus - see? They all work so well together. I also added some mountain bread crisps for a bit of added crunch.

Lester even loved it, and usually he would throw me confused looks at the thought of fruit in a salad :)

Strawberry Chicken Salad

Serves two

2 boneless skinless Chicken thighs, cut into bite sized chances
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar & or/ Balsamic reduction
Salt & pepper

1 piece Rye (or other variety) Mountain Bread -  a low carb, really thin wrap style bread.
Sliced Almonds
Avocado, cut into chunks
Lettuce
Cucumber, cut into chunks
about 3 large Strawberries, sliced
Asparagus, (about 3 spears per person), cut into thirds
Goat's cheese (chèvre) - about a third of a roll, crumbled.

Directions:

Preheat the grill to about 180 degrees (fan grill if you have it)

Drizzle a good slosh of Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar (I used reduction) over the chicken and season well.

Tear the mountain bread into strips, drizzle sparingly with olive oil and season. Rub with your fingers to speed the oil over the bread.

Put your almonds and bread strips onto an oven tray, and put under the grill under crisp and golden brown (about 5 minutes). Transfer into a bowl to cool.

Now put the chicken pieces onto the tray, and grill for about 10 minutes until almost cooked and starting to brown.

Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, season, and add onto the tray with the chicken for  a further 5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the asparagus is nicely roasted.

Make your salad dressing - about 1.5 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar, 4 tablespoons Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper and minced garlic (1 small clove, ideally rubbed through a microplane). Shake together in a small jar.

Dress your salad leaves with about two-thirds of the salad leaves, then place the leaves on a plate and top with the rest of the ingredients - the asparagus, strawberries, cucumber, mountain bread crisps, toasted almonds, avocado, chicken and crumbled goats cheese.

Drizzle with remaining dressing, and serve.