This is without a doubt my favorite summer salad, a salad that is so good it has had me looking forward to a Monday, just so I could have it for lunch. You dont even have to plan ahead for this salad when youre already grilling chicken breasts, simply make a couple of extra and youll have lunch or dinner later in the week.

The best part of this salad is its versatility simply use whatever fruit is in season at that point in the summer, whether its berries, stone fruit, tropical fruit whatever you have. Adding cheese and nuts rounds out the salad nicely, and again, just throw on whatever you have that you enjoy you wont regret it!

Chicken and Fruit Salad
Adapted from Eating Well, August 2008

Grilled Chicken Breast, sliced
Assorted Fruit (Melon, Berries, Pineapple, or Sliced Peaches & Plums)
Toasted Nuts
Crumbled Goat Cheese, Feta,or Blue Cheese
Mixed Salad Greens

Poppyseed Dressing
¼ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
3 teaspoons sugar or honey
1 ½ teaspoons poppy seeds
salt
pepper

Whisk the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, and poppy seeds until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Scatter salad greens on large dinner plates. Arrange slices of chicken in the middle and surround with fruit, nuts, and cheese. Drizzle with poppy seed dressing.

I’ve never been a big fan of arugula, but the thought of having it with chicken-flavored croutons and roast chicken was enough to convince me to try out this recipe.

I was not disappointed. This recipe is worth it just for the croutons. Seriously. I love roasted chicken, but I was tempted to subsist solely on croutons the day I made this meal. Yes, they really are that good. I managed to abstain from eating an entire loaf of bread for a meal, however, and I rounded things out with the salad greens and chicken.

I’m already planning on making this meal again soon . . . next weekend, maybe?

Recipe adapted from EveryDay Food, March 2010 issue

1 whole chicken (4 lbs)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt
black pepper
1 lemon, halved
1 loaf sourdough (8 ounces), torn into chunks
12 ounces arugula
1 teaspoons red wine vinegar

24-48 hours before the meal, salt and pepper the chicken inside and out. Wrap well in plastic wrap and place in a glass dish with raised sides. Refrigerate.

One hour before you plan to start cooking, remove the chicken from the fridge to bring it closer to room temperature. Preheat oven to 450. Place chicken on wire roasting rack and rub with 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with thyme, and squeeze lemon juice into cavity; place lemon halves into cavity. Roast chicken breast-side down until juices run clear, about 45-50 minutes. Transfer to a platter.

Place bread in roasting pan, toss with pan juices to coat. Season with salt. Bake until croutons are golden, 7-10 minutes. Pour any accumulated juices from the platter to a bowl; add arugula, croutons, 1 tablespoon oil, and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and toss. Carve chicken and serve with arugula and croutons.

My grape tomato plant is out of control. I always get the bulk of my tomato crop in late summer to early fall, and this year is no exception. While my larger tomato varieties haven’t done so well this year, the grape tomatoes seem to want to make up for their counterparts.

This salad came about from the need to use some ripe tomatoes, some lettuce that was on its last day, and some mozzarella in the fridge that didn’t melt very well, but tasted okay when it was cut up. This salad begs for the best olive oil you have, and a splash of aged Balsamic takes it to another level. A sprinkle of whole basil leaves, salt, and pepper finishes things off nicely.

Of course, with the addition of lettuce and balsamic vineger, this salad isn’t your traditional caprese, but it sure does taste great. It would have been even better had I thought to make a few brioche croutons, but I didn’t have that brainiac moment until I was halfway through the salad. Next time, though…after all, I still have many more tomatoes to eat in the coming weeks.

This really isn’t a recipe, but here’s what you do to make this salad:

In a large bowl (I have an old serving bowl that I use for salads), pile high a few cups of torn lettuce leaves. Top with about eight cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, and several cubes of mozzarella cheese. Spinkle a few whole basil leaves over the top. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy. It’s sometimes difficult to believe that something this simple could be so satisfying.

When I was in elementary school, we all looked forward to taco day for the school’s hot lunch program. The school tacos were not only edible, they were actually good.

I still haven’t gotten over my love of tacos: they are easy to make, they are fast, just about everyone loves them, and the meat is very versatile. Tacos, salads, burritos, nachos, chimichangas… my stomach is growling as I write this post. Taco meat also freezes very nicely, so you can make a large batch, and freeze the leftovers for a super-quick meal at a later date.

The following recipe for taco meat tastes better than anything you’ll get out of a seasoning packet. The onions and peppers keep the meat moist while adding some vegetable servings to the dish.

You can certainly increase the amounts of peppers and onions, add green bell peppers, as well as add some chilis.

Taco Meat

1 medium onion, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground round or turkey
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (if desired)
1 T chopped cilantro
olive oil

1. Drizzle a little olive oil in a large nonstick saute pan and heat the pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion, cook until translucent. Add the yellow and red pepper, cook for another five minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

2. Move the vegetables to the edges of the pan. Add the ground meat to the middle and add half of the seasonings. Allow the meat to brown on one side, then flip it over and allow it to brown on the second side. When browned, break the meat up into smaller pieces, mix in the vegetables, and add the remaining seasonings. Continue cooking until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Add cilantro and stir to combine.

For the taco bar
Torn lettuce (romaine, butter, or leaf)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Sour cream
Guacamole
Chopped Tomatoes
Taco Meat
Sliced Black Olives
Tortillas
Tortilla Chips

This setup works great for a family or party – everyone can just take what they like.

As winter drags on, I find myself craving salads more and more. Perhaps it’s to delude myself that the grass isn’t still blanketed in snow, that the trees are still without leaves, that my garden is simply a memory.

But salads are not confined to the warmer months of the year. With this particular salad, I took advantage of both a winter fruit, and added a few splurges to make it a little more interesting and well-rounded.

Salad with Chicken, Pears, and Blue Cheese
serves 1

3 c mixed salad greens
1/2 cooked chicken breast, diced
1 pear, cored and diced
2 T blue cheese
2 T dried cherries
1/4 c raspberries
1/4 avocado, diced
olive oil
raspberry vinegar
pepper

Place salad greens in a large bowl or on a large plate. Place diced chicken in the middle of the salad and surround with pears, cherries, raspberries, and avocado. Drizzle with olive oil and raspberry vinegar. Season with pepper to taste.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that whole grains are the current “it” food. I have no idea if they are the wonder food they are purported to be, as science doesn’t always have the best track record in the area of nutrition (remember margarine? low-fat diets?). However, I figure that eating a variety of foods close to its natural state is probably a good idea, so I’ll go along with it. Enter wheatberries.

Ina Garten’s Wheatberry Salad is the perfect “made-ahead” dish because it tastes better the longer it sits. I love the versatility of this salad, because you can of course serve it on its own as a side dish, or you can add a scoop or two to a large main dish salad.

Wheatberry Salad
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients
1 c hard winter wheatberries
salt
1 c finely diced red onion (1 onion)
2 T olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, small-dice
1/2 yellow bell pepper, small-dice
1 carrot, small-dice
4 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Place the wheatberries and 3 cups of boiling salted water in a saucepan and cook, uncovered, over low heat for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain.

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheatberries, sauteed onions, bell peppers, carrot, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheatberries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.

The wheatberries have a chewy texture and slightly nutty flavor, while the carrots and peppers add some crunch and sweetness. This really is a great recipe to add lots of different vegetables to, so I’ll experiment more with it in the future.

The flavors really meld well. I would recommend using an aged balsamic and the best extra virgin olive oil you can get your hands on, as these two flavors really shine through. By “best” I don’t mean expensive, but I would recommend tasting the oil first to make sure you like the flavor; there’s a lot of variation in the olive oils out there.

If you want to make this dish but aren’t sure where to find wheatberries, check the bulk bins in the natural foods department of your local grocery store.

If you keep a stash of cheese and crackers or good bread in your house, you will always have an easy lunch or dinner option. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a meal consist of cheese, whole grain crackers or bread, and some fruit or a salad. When it’s dinner, I’ll throw in a glass of wine.

Today, I really, really wanted salt. Needed salt. Usually I’m a sugar kind of girl, but about once every month or two the salt craving hits me over the head. I’ve found it’s easiest to simply indulge it right away, before it’s done too much damage: think going through the drive-thru for some fries or picking up fish and chips for dinner. Yes, cheese and crackers seems like a much safer option.

Today, I went with a slice of gruyere, a couple of pieces of a medium-aged swiss, and two small pieces of a 10-month aged Parmesan.

I’ll be honest. On a normal day (or week), I would not like these cheeses with crackers; eaten together, the flavor of the cracker masks that of the cheese. I do prefer my cheese with some quality bread, which is more of a natural marriage to me.

And, to finish the meal off, a nice sized salad consisting of butter lettuces, seedless cucumber, and grape tomatoes. Oh, and Annie’s Organic French Dressing. For you purists out there, this is the only bottled salad dressing in my fridge. I love the stuff though, and I refuse to give it up.

It’s funny how appealing a salad can be during the middle of winter, but I’ve been craving salad like you wouldn’t believe. This simple dish has only resulted in me wanting more.