Strawberry & Spinach Salad with Pecan Encrusted Chicken

Tags

balsamic, cannellini beans, chicken, dinner, dinner salad, entree salad, gorgonzola, honey balsamic, light fare, lighter fare, lunch, postaday2011, salad, side dishes, spinach, strawberries, vinaigrette, white kidney beans

Extra strawberries? Perfect for one of my favorite salads. When I waited tables in grad school, the restaurant had an entrée salad similar to this recipe. Of course, I always was adding and omitting things to make it my own.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Pecan Encrusted Chicken

Ingredients:
pecan encrusted chicken, baby spinach, strawberries, gorgonzola cheese, cannellini beans, honey balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:
Arrange spinach on place and added sliced strawberries and cannellini beans. Sprinkle with gorgonzola. Slice chicken breast and place on top of salad. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

This time I didn’t have enough time to marinate my chicken breasts overnight. So I rubbed them with maple syrup and allowed them to sit 15 minutes (okay, I was starving, so that is pushing it) and dipped them straight into the flour, skipping the milk…

Vegetarian Version:
Skipped the chicken and opt for  plain or candied pecans… mmm…

Strawberry Spinach Salad

What is your favorite entrée salad?

How to Freeze Berries

Tags

Baking, berries, black raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cooking, food, frozen berries, frugal gardening, gardening, how to, raspberries, recipe, strawberries

Last summer Pumpkin and I picked a multitude of red raspberries, we had over 25 bushes behind our house. I made fresh berry Pavlovas, raspberry jam, raspberry pies, raspberry pancakes, raspberry smoothies… We had red raspberries in our cereal, salads, iced-tea, water… It was the summer of raspberries. The summer before that was the summer of strawberries (from Hubster’s grandparents’ neighbor’s garden). Three summers ago, it was the year of blueberries (from the pick-your-own farm).

This summer I was able to get a few black raspberries already, enough to pop into our mouths. There aren’t too many bushes, since my neighbor can’t get into the woods to pick the red raspberries, I usually leave him the black raspberries.

Mmm... Black Raspberries

Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor
Last year we also froze many raspberries to last us through out the year. I used the last of my raspberries near the end of February. If done properly, you can have delicious berries the entire year. It’s a great way to extend your berry season and save yourself money.

How to Freeze Berries:

1. Wash berries and thoroughly dry them.

2. Pick out any extremely ripe berries and eat them now, they will not freeze well.

3. Arrange berries in a single layer, not touching, on a cookie sheet.
*If freezing strawberries, prepare them how you want to use them later; half or slice them before freezing.

4. Place trays in freezer over night.

5. Once berries are completely frozen, place them in a freezer bag or plastic container and return to freezer.

How do you save sweet bits of your summer to enjoy during the winter?