Roasted shredded chicken, sliced strawberries, sweet cherry tomatoes, and dried cranberries tossed with lettuce then drizzled with nectarine balsamic vinaigrette. Delicious, healthy, and simple to make, this salad is perfect for the summer.
During the hot days of summer (when I’m not living in SF), I have absolutely no desire to eat anything warm, or heavy for that matter. I just want something cold and light, like a salad. But eating just one type of salad the entire summer would get boring, wouldn’t it? So let’s make salad an amazing dish to serve.
Today, I want to share with you a recipe that’s absolutely perfect for summer and completely healthy too. Filled with shredded chicken, sliced strawberries, sweet cherry tomatoes, and dried cranberries, this salad has so many flavors plus tons of nutrients. I love when my salads have a ton of ingredients. It makes me feel fuller. With a healthy dressing such as my Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette or my brand new Nectarine Balsamic Vinaigrette, I’ll be able to enjoy both my salad and my dressing. I admit it. I love my dressings. And with my recipe, it’ll be guilt free too.
The best thing about having fruits in your salad is that they’re naturally sweet so they add flavor to the salad without the need to add too much dressing or other seasonings. Hope you’ll like this salad as much as I do!
First step is the chicken. If you have leftover chicken, great. Use that. You can chop it up or shred them, up to you.
If you don’t have leftover chicken, here’s a quick and easy way to make chicken breast for this salad.
Preheat the oven to 350oF. Line a baking pan with foil and lightly grease with nonstick cooking spray. Season the chicken breasts with crushed red peppers, black pepper, and a pinch of salt. Lay the chicken breasts on the baking pan, and cover it with foil. Don’t forget this step because the chicken might end up try otherwise. And bake the chicken for about 40-45 minutes. The chicken breast should be done. But make sure to check the temperature of the chicken to be safe. Remove the chicken from the open and allow it to cool for several minutes until it’s comfortable to touch.
While you’re waiting for the chicken, tear up the lettuce into bite size pieces.
Chop the strawberries into fourths.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. I used the variety type so that there would be more flavor and color.
Once the chicken breast has cooled, chop or shred the chicken. I prefer shredding the chicken because it has a more rustic look. =)
In a medium to large bowl, add the lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, dried cranberries, and shredded chicken. Toss the ingredients until they become evenly incorporated.
Serve the salad with nectarine balsamic vinaigrette.
Enjoy!
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Delicious!
Thank you so much!
Beautiful salad! The different color cherry tomatoes really add to the look!
Thank you so much, Susan! I actually just randomly stumbled across them at a local grocery store and thought they’d be perfect with my salad =)
Oh, it looks so delicious…yum, yum!
Looks great! I like the simplicity in ingredients. Perfect for college students like me!!
Thank you so much, Kaley. I really like simplicity in my recipes. It makes preparing food easier for busy people. I just recently finished school so I know how you feel. I hope you’ll like this salad! =)
That’s great! I’ll be keeping an eye on your recipes then. I’ll let you know how it is!
Thanks! =)
Looks very delicious!
Oh, I am so with you! No way am I cooking on these sweltering hot days. You just gave me a wonderful idea for dinner tonight!
Perfect, I’ll try that tomorrow! Seems so summery 🙂
I love summer foods. And salads with fruits seem perfect for that. I hope you’ll like the salad. =)
Yummyyy 🙂 Perfect, delicious, light but filling after all the snacky type of food we had on our recent trip!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you liked it!
Amazing! strawberries and chicken, i like your style x
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll like this salad =)
I made it last night. Was delicious!
I’m so glad that you liked it! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know =)
Looks delicious! 🙂
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll get the chance to try it =)
Looks delicious – love the colors in the salad!
Thanks! I love colors in my salad, makes it much more fun and festive to eat. There’s going to be more coming soon =)