Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing.

Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing, is one of my new favorites! Fresh, delightful, not too sweet. Perfect any time strawberries are ripe and ready to harvest!

There is always joy in my kitchen! 

Sometimes it is the joy of simply eating when hungry. Other times the joy of the combination of ingredients being available to cook with! And of course the joy of now cooking with my daughter, a wonderful cook in her own right. But in all honesty there is also a little bit of "meh" in our kitchens as well. You know what I mean. That recipe found on a media page that looks spectacular, but when made, while following all the directions and the ingredients called for. Offers a dish of food that is just OK, see, like I said, meh. It is edible, nutritious even, but nothing wonderful or worth writing a blog post about. Now what?

Well you strap on your cooking guns and get creative! 

Which is exactly what she did! Often a recipe a little on the meh side becomes delicious when creative license is taken and an off beat ingredient is added in. And that is exactly how Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing came to be...it all started with what was a promising dish on a particular media site. A lovely spring/summer salad that looked lovely on the serving platter, but left the eater hoping for more. More flavor, more substance, just more. So that special ingredient was then added and it worked deliciously!

How did I become the lucky one to get served this salad? 

Quite simple really, we also practice (as much as is possible!) a now waste policy regarding food. When she took that salad and added grilled chicken, she offered me some for lunch. Of course I said yes, who would not want lunch prepared for them? Plus I am usually outside most mornings until noon and sitting down to a delicious salad already prepared is a real treat. And this dish of salad proved to be so delicious I had to come up with a printable recipe, so we can make it again. So I did...

I did ask for the ingredients, and then I took over from there!

While Jessica used grilled chicken breast meat in her salad, I used poached chicken. And both make a lovely salad! The grilled meat adds a bit more chew, the grilled flavor is a lovely addition. The ingredients are readily available and can be adjusted as desired. Allowing you to serve more folks with only having to maybe double the Honey Poppy Seed Dressing. You can offer this salad as a main dish salad or with other salads for an easy on the cook salad bar dinner. Making it particularly handy when you have friends and family coming over. And finally this, it is refreshing and delicious! I hope you give it a try...

Additional thoughts on this recipe:

The salad will, upon standing, may water out from the cucumbers. When making ahead, I suggest keeping the salad ingredients separate from the dressing until ready to serve. Toss at the last minute. 

While I did not think of this until I was eating my dinner, pecans on top would be a lovely addition!

Double all ingredients except the chicken when not serving as a main dish salad. 

With poached chicken breasts ready to go, this can be whipped up in about 5 minutes. 

Why not poach extra chicken breast meat to have on hand for chicken sandwiches or other quick meals. 

Yes you could use rotisserie chicken meat, but do watch the salt level in the meat, it will change the overall flavor of the salad. 

Ingredients needed for this recipe:

• chicken breast meat
• chicken broth for poaching
• strawberries
• cucumber
• mayonnaise
• sour cream
• honey
• lemon juice
• poppy seeds

You will also need the following:

• medium sized saucepan with lid
• measuring spoons
• kitchen spoon
• kitchen knife
• silicone spatula
• serving platter

Now we are ready to begin!

Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing

by the seat of my pants

1 full chicken breast 

1 Qt. container of organic strawberries or 4 dry cups from the garden

1 large cucumber

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/4 c sour cream

2 - 3 T honey

1 T lemon juice

1 T poppy seeds

To poach the chicken meat: Place 2 cups of chicken broth in the medium sauce pan, bring to a boil. Add the chicken breast, cover, and reduce the heat to medium low. Do not let the liquid boil, poach the meat slowly to keep it tender. Allow to cook until the meat is cooked through, then let cool in the broth until barely warm. Remove from the broth and refrigerate. (save the broth for soup) Chill the meat until needed. 

Wash pat dry and remove the stem from the strawberries, set aside.

Peel if desired the cucumber, dice and set aside. Cut the chicken meat into smallish pieces. 

Combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, set aside. 

In a small mixing bowl place the ingredients (mayonnaise through poppy seeds) for the dressing, and mix together until smooth. 

Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, and mix together gently. Place the salad on a serving platter, garnish with reserved strawberries if desired, and serve. 

Storage options for Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. Note: the cucumbers will add water to the dressing and the flavor will be slightly diluted, but the salad is still quite delicious! As with almost all salads, do not freeze. 

UPDATE:  For your convenience, a "copy and paste" version of Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing has been included below.

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Printable "copy and paste" version:

Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing

by the seat of my pants

1 full chicken breast 

1 Qt. container of organic strawberries or 4 dry cups from the garden

1 large cucumber

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/4 c sour cream

2 - 3 T honey

1 T lemon juice

1 T poppy seeds

To poach the chicken meat: Place 2 cups of chicken broth in the medium sauce pan, bring to a boil. Add the chicken breast, cover, and reduce the heat to medium low. Do not let the liquid boil, poach the meat slowly to keep it tender. Allow to cook until the meat is cooked through, then let cool in the broth until barely warm. Remove from the broth and refrigerate. (save the broth for soup) Chill the meat until needed. 

Wash pat dry and remove the stem from the strawberries, set aside.

Peel if desired the cucumber, dice and set aside. Cut the chicken meat into smallish pieces. 

Combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, set aside. 

In a small mixing bowl place the ingredients (mayonnaise through poppy seeds) for the dressing, and mix together until smooth. 

Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, and mix together gently. Place the salad on a serving platter, garnish with reserved strawberries if desired, and serve. 

Storage options for Jessica's Fruited Chicken Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. Note: the cucumbers will add water to the dressing and the flavor will be slightly diluted, but the salad is still quite delicious! As with almost all salads, do not freeze. 

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