Chicken and spinach salad

A wonderfully tasty and simple dinner salad that is perfect for a hot night or a cold night.


Chicken and spinach salad

You can find most of the ingredients you need for this recipe at your local farmers' market. This is a wonderfully tasty and simple dinner salad that is perfect for a hot night or a cold night.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound boned and skinned chicken breasts, about 4 small halves
  • 3/4 pound baby spinach leaves, rinsed and chilled
  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 medium red onion, minced (works well with yellow onion too)
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • Salt and pepper

Chef tip: If you cut off the hard stem end of your clove of garlic before smashing it, the peel almost jumps off.

Directions

  1. Rinse the chicken and cut it into 1/4 inch wide strips. 
  2. Whisk together the vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, capers, and mustard in a small bowl. 
  3. Put the spinach in a large salad bowl. 
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining olive oil and chicken. The chicken needs to cook for about 4 minutes, but you can't start to stir it right away or it will stick. 
  5. Add the onion and garlic. Stir for about 1 minute. 
  6. Add the vinaigrette and stir until it’s hot. Pour it all over the spinach. The leaves will wilt somewhat but still be recognizable. 
  7. Top with cherry tomatoes and mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Nutrition information (per serving)

  • Calories: 315
  • Total fat: 15 g
  • Saturated fat: 2 g
  • Cholesterol: 66 mg
  • Sodium: 426 mg
  • Total carbohydrate: 16 g
  • Dietary fiber: 6
  • Protein: 29 g