Bling-Up Your Dinner and Keep your Kitchen Cool with this Beautiful Chicken Salad.

Includes Main Course Recipe / July 27, 2016

Let’s just put it out there. It is too hot to cook, and almost too hot to eat! (Well, that last part isn’t true….but raising your fork to your mouth when our Southern weather is about as sticky and nasty as it gets can be a chore.)

You’re using electricity faster than a 3 year old eats Cheerios, and three showers a day is the norm. There’s only one solution: SALAD FOR DINNER!

But here’s the rub….How do you get inventive, and stay healthy, as well as entertain beautifully, when your apron strings are doing their best to keep perspiration from gently dripping off your glowing brow? My solution is go BIG on flavor, use fruit, and let herbs be the star.

If you can push the button on your food processor, blanch a vegetable, and otherwise saute some cute little chunks of chicken, you’re nearly all the way there. Actually, if you want to buy pre-cooked chicken strips, that would work JUST AS WELL! The point is you can present a meal with flavor, substance and nutrition.

There. You just created your own cool version of #blingcuisine. Now where is the nearest swimming pool???

Parsley Rosemary Pesto Chicken Spring Green Salad

With Blanched Vegetables and Raspberries

Serves 4

Ingredients:

16 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks
½ C toasted salted almonds, rough chopped
3 regular sized yellow potatoes, cubed
2 small – regular yellow squash
20 sprigs of thin asparagus
3-4 C spring greens
½ pint fresh raspberries
1 small clove garlic
2 T salted butter
6 +/- T olive oil divided
3 T rice wine vinegar
2 t kosher salt
¼ t black cracked pepper
Extra salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ C flat leaf parsley, leaves only
1 T fresh rosemary
1/3 C buttermilk
1 T honey

Directions:

With a large blade vegetable peeler, cut the yellow squash into long strips. You should have about 3 cups worth, loosley packed. Cover it with ice water and let sit for no more than 2 hours if needing to prep early, or add to spring green right away. (see below). Rinse the asparagus and cut off the hard ends, leaving the sprigs a nice length for placing across the salad. Put them in a large saucepan with about 1/3 C water. Bring to simmer and cook for about 2 minutes, until asparagus ares lightly softened. Don’t overcook! Remove and shock in ice water.Remove, blot dry and set aside. Cube the unpeeled potatoes and boil until very soft, about 10 minutes. Drain and shock potatoes in ice water as well.
In a small food chopper add the parsley, rosemary, garlic and some kosher salt and pepper and about 2 To live oil and process until almost pureed.You might need a bit more olive oil to achieve a smooth result…add in increments of 2 t and process and check again.Remove and place in a bowl and add the buttermilk and honey.Stir to combine.Set aside.