Whew! We’ve been having some server problems, so the updates have been terribly slow in coming, but hopefully we’re back!
Fresh berries are finally in season and I’m so happy! Today I picked up some beautiful strawberries and blueberries, and I immediately thought of a salad. This one’s so ridiculously simple that it’s barely a recipe, but I did make my own dressing, and any time I don’t have to cook in 100-degree weather is a big plus.
Pound chicken breast thin with a meat mallet, until it is about 1/2″ thick. Sprinkle chicken with salt and fresh ground black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil and a splash of lemon juice.
Grill until cooked through (my trusty George Foreman grill comes in handy on hot days when I don’t want to fire up the stove). Slice on an angle into strips.
The salad dressing is adapted from Dana Carpender’s 500 Low-Carb Recipes, specifically her “Balsamic-Parmesan Dressing.” I usually add a little crumbled bacon to this, but today - shocking! - I didn’t have any, so I had to go without. I also double the amount of cheese in her recipe, because you can never have too much cheese.
For the dressing, you’ll need:
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. mayonnaise (I use Kraft with Olive Oil)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Whisk together everything in a bowl.
For the salad, I like to add chicken, sliced strawberries, fresh blueberries, and goat cheese to mixed spring greens. Because this dressing’s pretty strong (and thick), you don’t need a lot, so use sparingly. This salad is very colorful and tastes fresh, sweet, tangy, and comforting, making it the perfect summer food.
A note on the cookbook: when I first started cooking low-carb, Dana Carpender’s book was very useful, and even though I make most of my recipes myself these days, her book’s always in my kitchen. While some of her recipes aren’t winners, there are a lot of good basics in here, and nothing’s very difficult. You can buy it here:
