Golden Beet and Warm Chicken Salad

This main dish salad uses golden beets, which have a smooth flavor and beautiful color. The color doesn’t run the way it does with red beets, making it a good choice for salads. Make one large salad, or make four salads on individual plates.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash lemon pepper salt free seasoning
• 4 golden beets, scrubbed and peeled
• ½ head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
• ¼ cup of chopped cilantro
• ½ cup of fresh baby spinach
• ¼ cup of chopped walnuts
• 2 red or yellow tomatoes, sliced (Golden tomatoes look wonderful in this salad.)
• ¼ cup Balsamic vinaigrette

Preparation:
Cook the beets in the microwave 1-2 minutes per beet, depending on their size. They should be fork tender.
While the beets are cooking, sprinkle the chicken breasts with lemon pepper seasoning and cook on the indoor grill until well done.
Slice the chicken breasts into small pieces.
Cut the golden beets into bite sized chunks.
Place the beets, lettuce, cilantro, and spinach in a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.
Top the vegetables with the chicken, tomatoes, and chopped walnuts.
Serve while the beets and chicken are still warm.
Enjoy this with a light Pinot Grigio wine.


More great recipes are at my Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner website.

Never miss a post!
Follow me on Twitter as @Dinnermagic.
Subscribe to the RSS feed for the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner and the Sacramento Budget Wine Examiner or have the articles emailed to you.

Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
½ pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins
2 tablespoons of Dijon style mustard
1 tablespoon of honey
¼ teaspoon of white pepper
2 cups of iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 cups of baby spinach
1 tomato, cut into slices
Crusty bread sticks

Preparation:
Mix together the mustard and honey. If the honey is too thick, warm it in the microwave for a few seconds.
Coat the chicken in the honey mustard sauce and grill on the indoor grill until done.
Mix together the lettuce, spinach, and tomato.
Top with the grilled chicken pieces.
Sprinkle with the pepper and serve with the bread sticks.

Never miss a post! Follow me on Twitter as @Dinnermagic. Subscribe to the RSS feed for the Sacramento Easy Meals Examiner and the Sacramento Budget Wine Examiner or have the articles emailed to you.

Chicken Salad with Craisins and Walnuts

Chicken Salad with Craisins and Walnuts
Hot Baked Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of chopped cooked chicken (Use leftovers from the Dijon Ranch Chicken Breasts)
¼ cup of craisins
¼ cup of walnuts
¼ cup of shredded carrots
¼ cup of mayonnaise
2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
2 green onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 head of iceberg lettuce
Ranch style dressing
Whole wheat flour for bread
Yeast

In the morning:
Prepare the bread to bake in the bread machine according to your machine’s recipe book.

In the afternoon:
Stir the chicken, craisins, walnuts, carrots, and mayonnaise together.
Shred the lettuce and place into bowls.
Top with the chicken salad, divided evenly between the salads.
Garnish with eggs, tomatoes, and green onions.
Serve with ranch dressing.
Remove the bread from the machine. Serve hot with butter and honey.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

Chicken Waldorf Salad


Originally created by a chef at the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, this classic recipe has undergone countless incarnations. This is my personal take on the Waldorf.

In this picture, I added some leftover shredded carrots to the mix. I also put a few basil leaves on the plate that I needed to use. It's perfectly fine to add things to the recipe that you like!

Ingredients:
1 cup of diced celery
2 apples, cut up with the peels intact
½ cup of chopped walnuts
¼ cup of raisins or craisins
1 cup of chopped chicken (You can use leftovers from last night’s Crunchy Almond Chicken Tenderloins, if you have enough.)
½ cup of mayonnaise
2 tsp of Dijon mustard
½ head of iceberg lettuce
Black pepper

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together. If it’s not creamy enough add a little more mayonnaise. Refrigerate while you get the lettuce ready.
Cut up the iceberg lettuce and divide evenly onto plates.
Top the lettuce with the Waldorf Salad.
Sprinkle a dash of black pepper on top.

Serve this with bread, bread sticks, or crackers and cheese.