This grilled chicken and spinach salad, drizzled with homemade strawberry crème dressing and topped with cinnamon pecans will have your palette singing, your feet dancing, and the reprimanding scales shutting up!
Whether you spin it into a cheese, cream, sweet, or savory, delicacy, marscapone whips into a luscious topping to decorate bagels, waffles, cake, and when you want a healthier alternative, salads too!
Strawberry Creme Dressing
Ingredients
15 strawberries
½ cup marscapone cheese
2 pinches of salt
2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. raspberry blush vinegar
2 oz. VA Vina Alijibes Syrah 2008 Rose wine (Spanish wine) If you can't find this one, ask your wine seller for another strawberry infused selection. just make sure it isn't a super sweet one.
1 boneless chicken breast (makes 2 salads)
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper taste
Salad
2 to 4 cups of fresh spinach leaves
onion (as much as you desire, sweet or if you prefer a little more bite use a purple onion)
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Cinnamon Pecans
Ingredients
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 pinches of salt
¼ tsp. of vanilla
¼ tsp. of vanilla rum (optional)
½ cup of pecan halves
Directions
Combine strawberries and marscapone cheese into a food processor. Pulse to blend. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Allow to chill for about 2 hours or longer for the best taste.
For pecans, melt butter an brown sugar in a skillet until sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and rum. Stir. Then add pecans and toss to coat. Cool before sprinkling onto salad.
Heat another skillet with the oil and brown chicken on both sides. Add desired amount of salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature or it can be served cold. Your preference.
Now for the best part...assemble and dig in! Layer vegetables on a salad plate, Sprinkle the feta evenly around them. Arrange the chicken across the middle. Toss a few pecans over the top, drizzle with the dressing, and grab a fork!
You can also garnish with fresh strawberries for a snazzy presentation. And add additional veggies to your salad if you like. Cucumbers, peppers, or squash would work. I'd stay away from tomatoes with this type of fruit dressing. Explore and experiment...there are no rules!
And for dessert...Top your favorite cake with some of the strawberry creme dressing and a little whipped creme, maybe a few more berries or a a swirl of dark chocolate sauce or semi sweet chocolate chips. You get the delicious idea and as always, enjoy with a glass of the wine!
This is a versatile recipe so play around with it and let me know how you like it best.
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