Apr 10 10
by cara
at 7:24 PM
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Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

This is one of the best salads I’ve ever had.  It is certainly the best salad I’ve ever created at home.  All of the components to this salad taste great on their own, but toss them all together, and you’ve got an out-of-this-world salad.  The dressing is phenomenal!  I plan to start making this dressing regularly instead of buying a store bought red wine vinaigrette.  The grilled chicken has amazing flavor (and I plan to serve this chicken on its own for dinner sometime soon).  The sugared almonds are so simple to make, but add a great sweet crunch to the salad.  It was a huge hit at Easter Brunch-many people went back for seconds-but it would also make a great main dish.  I’ve got it on the dinner menu for next week!

Now if I could just figure out how to duplicate the Chopped Asian Salad from benjy’s, I’d be in salad heaven!

Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

Ingredients:
  • Spinach leaves
  • Romaine leaves
  • Lemon Grilled chicken, sliced (recipe below, or grill with lemon pepper seasoning)
  • Red onion, sliced thinly (omitted)
  • Crispy bacon, crumbled
  • Shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Sugared almonds (Put sliced or chopped almonds in a pan with lots of granulated sugar (about equal amounts). Cook on medium heat until sugar melts, coating the almonds as they brown.)
  • Poppy seed dressing (recipe below)

Lemon Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:
  • Juice of one lemon (~3 Tb lemon juice)
  • 3 Tb oil
  • 1 tsp minced garlic (~2 large cloves)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1 lb chicken breasts
Marinate the chicken overnight.  For salad, dice the raw chicken and marinate it that way so there is more surface area to marinate.  You can get away with marinating for a shorter amount of time this way. Grilling is best, but cooking in a skillet is great, too.

Poppy Seed Dressing

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp dry mustard
  • 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 3 Tb Maui or Vidalia onion, chopped
  • 2 cups canola oil
  • 3 Tb poppy seeds
Mix the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then slowly add the oil, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds. Toss all ingredients together with generous amount of dressing before serving.  This makes a lot of dressing!  I halved the recipe, and still had more than enough for a big huge bowl of salad.
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5 Comments
  1. 🙂 OK, just HOW MANY posts do I have to write, “Is there no end to your greatness?!” I can’t eat salad with my gastroparesis, but I can eat cucumbers (go figure). So I plan to make this dressing and put it on some cucs!

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. Easter Brunch 2010 | The Picky Apple
  2. Asian Noodle Salad | The Picky Apple
  3. Easter Brunch Menu 2011 | The Picky Apple
  4. Spinach Berry Cucumber Salad | The Picky Apple

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