(light upbeat music)
- Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel.
Taylor from The Girl on Bloor here,
I share delicious, easy recipes
and meal prep tips and tricks
to keep you eating healthy,
no matter how busy life gets.
Now that spring has sprung
and we're all starting to enjoy some more sunshine.
I thought it was time to share
one of my favorite salads.
It will definitely give you those warm weather vibes.
Say hello to this delicious strawberry spinach salad.
I'll also be showing you my favorite way
to cook chicken to top the salad with.
So you'll get an extra flavor pop,
plus add a whole bunch of protein to the mix.
This salad is the perfect 30 minute dinner idea
for busy week nights.
And it's also a great meal prep idea.
I'll be showing you how to make it last
for days in a Mason jar later on in this video.
So you can ensure it stays fresh
if you're prepping it for your weekly lunches too.
Even if you decide to leave the chicken off
and serve it as a side salad,
you're just going to love the 4 ingredient dressing.
It's a real crowd pleaser
and a must to any dinner party.
I just can't say enough good things
about this fresh summery salad.
So before I ramble on too much,
let's jump right into make it.
So first off let's assemble your ingredients.
You'll be using chicken cutlets
or chicken breasts for the protein component of the salad.
Then you'll need a container
of baby spinach, strawberries, red onion, goat cheese
or feta cheese and chop walnuts for the actual salad itself.
Finally you'll need olive oil,
red wine vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard
and salt and pepper for the dressing.
You'll get to work on the chicken first,
since that takes the longest amount of time to cook.
You'll either need 4 chicken cutlets
or 2 chicken breasts for this recipe.
It works out to be about a pound of chicken, either way.
The reason I give you the option to use boneless,
skinless chicken breasts is because chicken cutlets
aren't always easy to find at the store.
If you're going to use the breasts,
you want to slice them thinly in half lengthwise,
form your own cutlets.
You want them nice and thin,
so that they don't take too long to cook.
And to also get those thin strips of chicken you're used
to having with salads you might get at a restaurant.
Season your chicken cutlets generously
with salt and pepper.
Then you'll add 1 tablespoon of olive oil
to a large skillet over medium high heat.
Alternatively, you can spray the chicken
with avocado oil and grill the cutlets
on the barbecue for 5 minutes per side.
But today, I'm just showing you
how to make them on the stove top.
Once your oil is nice and hot in your skillet,
add your chicken and cook
for 6 to 7 minutes each side.
You want a nice sear on each side.
So don't be tempted to flip them
until at least 5 minutes have gone by.
Once your chicken is fully cooked,
remove from heat and let the cutlets rest
on a plate for another 5 minutes before slicing.
You want them to hold in their juices
and cool a bit before adding them to the salad.
While your chicken is resting,
now's the time to whip up the vinaigrette.
This is one of my favorite dressings
and believe it or not,
the first one I ever learned how to make
in grade 10 Home-Ec.
It's one of my O.G., go-to dressings.
Super light in the red wine vinegar pairs perfectly
with the strawberries.
You probably already have the ingredients
on hand in your pantry.
So take a small Mason jar
and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil
then add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar,
white wine vinegar, or Apple cider vinegar,
also work here.
Next you'll add 1 tablespoon
of honey or maple syrup.
And finally you'll add 1 teaspoon
of Dijon mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper.
The mustard will act as an emulsifier
to help blend oil and vinegar together.
Now all you have to do is place the lid
on your Mason jar and shake to combine.
I love using a Mason jar to be able
to shake everything together.
But it's also great,
if you decide to double the salad dressing
and keep the leftovers for another time.
The dressing will last in the fridge for up to a month,
so you can keep it for quite a while for future salads.
Now you're ready to assemble
your salad and eat.
Told you this was going to be an easy recipe.
One thing to note,
don't assemble your salad
unless you're ready to eat immediately.
If you're meal prepping this salad,
keep watching 'cause I'll go
over storage instructions in a couple of minutes.
Okay, so take a large bowl,
then add your spinach to it.
Wash half a pound of strawberries,
then remove the stems and slice them thinly,
then add them to the bowl.
Take half of a large red onion,
then slice that as thinly as possible
and add that to the bowl.
Finally, take a quarter cup of chopped walnuts
and add them in.
You can also use any other type of nut or seeds such
as almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds
or you can just leave them out altogether.
Sometimes I'll use croutons in place of the nuts
for something crunchy or roasted chickpeas or lentils.
Now, before you add the dressing,
thinly slice the chicken against the grain.
You'll want to do this right before adding the dressing
because ideally you will be eating salad immediately
once the dressing is added to avoid sogginess.
Once you've got everything in the bowl
and your chicken is all sliced up,
give your dressing one final shake,
then pour it over your salad,
tossing very gently to combine.
Serve in large salad bowls,
then divide the chicken evenly among each bowl.
For the final touch,
sprinkle some goat cheese over top.
You'll be dividing half a cup of goat cheese
among the four salads.
And voila, strawberry spinach salad.
Isn't it just glorious,
like summer in a bowl.
I know you are anxiously waiting
the meal prep instructions,
let's dive right into those.
Hopefully, you know my love of Mason jars by now,
So it should come as no surprise
that I'm using them to keep this salad fresh for meal prep.
You'll want to use one of the larger, 1 liter jars.
Then start by adding 1 tablespoon
of the dressing to the bottom of each jar.
Divide your chicken and add to each jar.
Then you will layer from there,
starting with the goat cheese.
Add your red onions,
your strawberries and the spinach.
Then top of the chop walnuts. Boom, done.
This spinach should stay fresh and crisp
and the jars will last in the fridge
up to 4 days.
When you're ready to serve,
just shake the jar
and then dump it into a salad bowl to enjoy.
Yes, you do need an extra bowl
because it's just too hard
to eat the salad out of the jar.
But this is a great way to ensure
that all the salad components stay fresh
and nothing gets soggy.
You don't even need to store the dressing separately either.
I just love my jar salads.
You should know this by now.
I love this strawberry spinach salad so much.
It's packed with protein and summer flavors
and it's a great way to get in a whole bunch
of nutritious fruits and veggies all at once.
And the 4 ingredient dressing is everything.
If you're loving this 30 minute salad,
I've linked to a whole lot more easy salad recipes
in the caption.
So you can cruise the blog for more healthy options.
And of course, I've linked
to this finished salad in the caption as well.
So head on over for the full written recipe,
plus more tips and tricks.
I hope you enjoyed learning how to make this
strawberry spinach salad with me today.
If you're loving all these fresh flavors,
be sure to subscribe to my channel
and I'll see you here again next week
with another delicious recipe, take care.