Thursday, May 6, 2010

Mother's Day Chicken-Spinach Salad with Strawberry Dressing

This is the Quiet Man. My name is not really the Quiet Man. I'm called Shane, which starts with SH. Shhh! I've been hearing this all my life "Sh....ane" Perhaps this is why I have become so quiet. I doubt it though. My name is not really Shane either, but that is another story for another Mother's day.
Once a year I feel obligated to at least try to make a special Mother's Day meal. Not the breakfast in bed meal, but a Sunday afternoon sit down meal. Usually, I pass my ideas along to Prudence Pennywise and we get a revision or two. My meal ideas tend to be like a rusted out Pontiac station wagon, and then after a short discussion with Prudence Pennywise, we have a Cadillac version, at the same price. In recent Mother's Days, I have teamed up with Prudy's Father, who also feels obligated to make a marvelous meal for Mother's Day. Truthfully, despite our attempts to go it alone, there is always a kind word of encouragement or suggestion from Prudy and Prudy's mother. They say things like: "Well kid, you did your best." Anyway, the fathers end up doing a bang up job of cleaning the dishes, the kitchen and the mess. Here we have this year's attempt at a special Mother's Day meal. Isn't it the thought that counts? Not around here, it's more like making the attempt that counts. Here goes:
Popeye would be proud of our garden and we've got more spinach than I care to eat in a whole year. With that pleasant thought, I decided dinner had to be a salad. A lady kind of salad-the kind ladies think is a whole meal. (They do that with soup, too.)
I planned to grill the chicken, but it got a little windy, as it tends to do, so I moved it inside and broiled it in the oven, with just a little bit of S&P, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Yeah you heard me say it: "broiled it in the oven", where do you think I learned that?If you have some cornbread lying around, or if you feel inclined to make some, it makes very good croutons. By the way, cornbread has been on the mind recently. You can also use plain bread. In either case, cut them into cubes and put them in the oven to toast. I had the broiler on and I turned my back for a minute. Do you think Prudy will notice?
Well fellas, have a go at it. I'm going to have to take a brief hiatus from blog posting now, as I don't have anything left to say. That's why they call me the Quiet Man. I'll be back before long with dessert-chocolate covered strawberries.
Mother's Day Spring Chicken and Spinach Salad with Strawberry Dressing
For the dressing:
Equal parts strawberry jam
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
For the Salad:
spinach
sliced strawberries
sliced red onion
day old cornbread, cut into croutons and dried in the oven
grilled (or broiled) chicken strips
walnuts
feta cheese
Next Up:
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries for Mother's Day Dessert

16 comments:

Jessica @ Barefoot by the Sea said...

Looks amazing and different! Love that!

Jennifer said...

Sounds perfect for Mother's Day.... How sweet!

gigi said...

One of my all time favorite salads! You done good :)

Sandy aka Doris the Great said...

I do believe that this will be my Mother's Day salad of choice! Thanks.

Julie Harward said...

Prudy, this has got to be my favorite salad...love the spinach and the strawberry dressing..YUM! You always come up with something wonderful! Come say hi :D

Leslie said...

I could hear Shane's voice in my head as I read along.
My favorite part was about the lady kind of salad that ladies think is a whole meal. And of course the soup, too.
I like to think a couple of cookies are a whole meal and wish my family could see it that way, as well.
It was fun to read The Quiet Man's thoughts. He did a great job, and I hope we'll get to hear from him on Father's Day, too.
That is so nice of he and Dad to tackle Mother's Day dinner and to do a bang up clean up job.
Have a happy Mother's Day, Prudy and tell The Quiet Man we loved this post.

wileyfamilyof5 said...

It has been a while. This looks very tasty.You will have to hop over and see the chicken lasagna recipe I posted.

Prudy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Seth and Julie said...

I love spinach strawberry salad, and I am not even one of those "salad counts as a meal" type girls. Homemade cornbread croutons? Only at Prudence Pennywise. Fun post Shane!

Amanda said...

It all looks wonderful! Hope you have a fabulous Mother's Day :)

Catherine said...

I love that Shane posted. What a guy. The salad looks delicious. And I will never understand why a salad or a soup can't count as dinner. And for Leslie, I don't understand why a cookie cant' be dinner either. What about all three together?

Tanji said...

I'm serioulsy laughing out loud!! Love it! Shane - you rock! Did you write the post all at once or save up words for a few days? haha
The salad is beautiful - I'll bet Prudy and her mama loved it. :)

Tiffanee said...

This looks and sounds amazing. My type of salad! Thanks for sharing.

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