Fresh Summer Chicken Salad with Watermelon & Strawberries

It’s Friday!! I’m watching Rizzoli & Isles on DVR, drinking a cup of coffee with Bailey’s Chocolatini creamer, and wishing that it was 4:30 in the afternoon instead of 6 a.m. so that we can get this birthday weekend underway!! Tomorrow is my first day off from both jobs in 19 days. I’m beyond ecstatic to spend an entire day with my love! We’re meeting one of my besties and her family and the local Six Flags theme park for a few hours and then to dinner that night. But regardless of what we’ll be doing, it will just be nice to have a full day to spend together. That’s the best birthday gift I could ask for.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that I am a summer baby through-and-through. I don’t do cold weather. I’d rather be sweating it out in 100-degree temps that deal with anything under 70 degrees. Soooo…this here little salad is the perfect plate of summer freshness. Summer in a bite (or ten) is a good description.

I mean, I guess I could be considered a “bad foodie” because most times I have no clue what produce is “in season”, but I know that watermelon is a summer fruit. It’s just one of those foods that tell you “summer is really here”. And while I haven’t eaten it much in the past, J and I have had quite a few of those little personal sized melons this summer already. I have no idea why I have denied myself the deliciousness for all these years.

Combined with the fresh strawberries, grilled chicken and quinoa, and topped with the lemony dressing, goat cheese crumbles, and sliced basil, this really is the perfect salad for summer. And heck, you could even throw in some spinach and kale if you wanted it to be a “true” salad.

Either way, you need to make this before summer slips by us and is gone, gone, gone! You do that, while I’m screaming down roller coasters and water slides and we can report back to each other on Monday, ‘k?

Fresh Summer Chicken Salad

Adapted from Edible Perspective

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups watermelon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups strawberries, stem removed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Lemon Shallot Dressing (recipe below)
Goat cheese, crumbled
Basil, thinly sliced

Preparation

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and allow to cool before cutting into bite-sized pieces.
Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to package instructions. Allow to cool completely.
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, quinoa, watermelon, and strawberries. Drizzle with dressing (as much as you like), and top with goat cheese crumbles and basil slices, and serve.

Lemon Shallot Dressing

5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp minced shallot
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a jar, seal firmly, and shake vigorously to incorporate the honey and until all ingredients are well-combined.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Shake before pouring to combine and reduce separation of ingredients.

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