I love salads this time of the year and a favorite of mine is at Companion Bakery here in St. Louis. It’s their Picnic Salad, a spinach salad with a strawberry poppy seed dressing, chicken, candied pecans, and Blue cheese.
For some reason I’m not a fan of Blue cheese anymore so when I created this I made it with goat cheese and added lots of fresh fruit to make this a colorful spring or summertime salad. In fact, after I poached my chicken, with the leftovers, made a lettuce wrap that was outstanding! I didn’t think at the time to take a photo of it so poached more chicken, but when I went to get it out of the refrigerator to plate the wrap my husband had eaten it. I guess I wasn’t quick enough.
Poached chicken is so easy to make and ideal for salads since it’s so moist and lends well to soaking up whatever dressing you add to the mix. Imagine all the ingredients in this photo except the spinach, blended together, then placed in Boston lettuce leaves. It’s perfect for a light lunch, luncheon or to pack up for a picnic or brown bag lunch. Package the mix separately from the lettuce and then plate altogether when you decide to eat.
Whether you make this as a full Spinach Salad or Boston Lettuce Chicken Wraps you can’t go wrong.
The Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing is truly the star feature of this salad. It’s so simple to make, and should last at least a week stored in a Mason Jar or airtight container in the refrigerator – if you don’t finish it before that. If preferred use Coconut Oil instead of the Canola Oil.
I hope you’ll try this………………………
Try this light colorful dish as a salad or lettuce wraps.
Ingredients:
Dressing
Chicken
Salad