Spinach salad with chicken, feta, almonds, and a bright, tart, FRESH strawberry dressing! It’s so delicious and only 385 good-for-you calories!
News: I bought a Magic Bullet. I know; seven years late to the party, always. But look. In my defense, it was the center display at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. So.
But now my life is complete. Hooray. Balloons. Confetti. The end.
I swear I’ve used it six times since Sunday when I pridefully hauled it out of the store—one arm balancing it precariously between my left arm and my love handle while my right arm held my phone to my ear as I hollered to notify my Mom of my purchase. “Just THINK of all the ways I can use it,” I told her, practically beaming. “Smoothies, sauces, pesto, dressings (!!), cool coffee drinks. More sauces.” She stopped me just before I committed to reciting the full infomercial.
Now, I’m a blending fool. Admittedly, you could achieve the exact same results in a full-sized blender, but what I love about the Bullet is the convenience due to its small size and easy clean up. It’s lightweight, portable, and it makes whipping up a quick sauce to drizzle over all of the simple meats I’ve been grilling lately a breeze. But the real reason I was so excited about the Magic Bullet? Dressings. Emulsified, thick, creamy homemade dressings.
Longtime readers know intimately how my deep salad love runs. They’re a mainstay around here. I eat one nearly every day for lunch and I’ve often thought of my consistency in that one veg-heavy meal as a very integral piece in my weight maintenance and feeling healthy physically. Tons of raw vegetables (perhaps some cooked, too); protein; a hearty dose of stick-to-your-ribs fat; a handful of something fun for added flavor; and dressing. These salads are just a part of my life now, and not the least bit regrettably, because I make it my business to make them delicious. Always.
Last year, when I lived in the Costa Rican jungle with Camille for two months, fresh lettuce was scarce. And when it wasn’t scarce, it was wilted and bug ravaged. We took to making finely shredded green cabbage salads and topping them with avocado, mango, fresh cilantro, and a piping hot scoop of black beans that we sautéed with garlic, onion, cumin, and chile in adobo. In the winter, I roast most things and top my salads with all of the crispy, caramelized vegetables and meats that emerge from my oven. Now, in grilling season, I’m skewering and charring everything in sight. The key to keeping salads fresh is changing your ingredients and your method of preparation for the toppings. For a refresher on how I toss together these lunches, here’s a post I wrote a year ago about mixing and matching toppings for maximum nutrition and flavor: How to Make a Delicious 400-Calorie Salad
This particular salad—the springy one pictured—is my current favorite. Grilled chicken, feta cheese, sliced almonds, baby spinach, and a refreshing berry dressing.
Enjoy!
Spinach Salad with Chicken, Feta, Almonds, and Fresh Strawberry Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups strawberries about 6, hulled
- 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 7 ounces baby spinach
- 1 pound grilled chicken breast four 4-ounce grilled breasts
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, olive oil, and honey. Pulse until smooth.
- Assemble the salads by dividing the spinach among four large serving plates or bowls. Divide the chicken among the spinach, followed by the feta and almonds. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of dressing on top of each salad and serve immediately. Any extra dressing will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator stored in an airtight container.
I find a good blender is the most used kitchen appliance. It’s so versatile! I swear by my Vitamix, and I use it at least once a day.
Also, I remember reading about your trip to Costa Rica! Has it really been a year? D:
Ahh, a Vitamix is an AWESOME appliance to have. That thing is powerful from what I hear! Someday I think I’ll upgrade to that when my wee little bullet dies :)
And yes, it’s been a year. Crazy, right?
Love! thank-you so much I worked in a cafe 15 years ago and we made an awesome chicken, strawberry and avocado salad with strawberry dressing. It was divine and I have tried to replicate it many times… I’m hoping yours will fit the bill. Now I just have to wait six months for strawberries to come back into season here in Australia.
omg YES. the possibilities are ENDLESS! you can make your own almond meal and coconut butter for way cheaper, and also delicious banana soft serves (just frozen banana blended up!)!!
best. investment. ever!
i only have a ninja from CVS for $40 but it works just fine. and i’m totally with you on using a food processor as opposed to blender for everything!
The strawberry dressing over the chicken looks absolutely delicious. Thanks for recipe, I’m going to give it a whirl :)
How do you manage this? You have come up with so many delicious dishes with low calorie based and good for healthy living. The food is simply great.
Now you’ve encouraged me to bite the bullet! I have an immersion blender and a regular blender, but I’ve been thinking about getting the easy-to-handle bullet….thank you!
Oh my gosh, now I really AM an infomercial :)
Andie
yum! I may have to invest in a bullet now ;)
Haha, nice! I used to have one before I got really into cooking and I gave it away to a friend. Then my cooking/baking addiction set in and was so sad. Now I have a Ninja and I was just about as excited as you when I was walking out of the store. Seriously life changing. Congrats on your purchase. So exciting.
This fresh strawberry dressing sounds fantastic!
I’m so excited you got a Magic Bullet, because now you’ll post recipes for one! My husband and I use ours all the time for smoothies, but honestly I’ve never used it for anything else! This dressing looks amazing! One question: does the honey really mix up in there, or does it stay together? When I’ve tried to put honey in smoothies it didn’t work…but that might have just been because of the cold. :)
The honey mixed right in for me! None of my ingredients were too cold so that might have been the key for proper emulsification with something super thick/gunky like honey?
This looks amazing! And now I am excited to have a delicious dressing where I can control what goes into it. Thank you :)
By the way, I got a Magic Bullet for Christmas, as a “Now you have your own place, you need something practical!” I love it! And to be honest, who isn’t amazed by the infomercial? :)
This looks fabulous. I love to make dressings and marinades, and this might be just the thing!
After a long day at work and not getting a lunch break until work was over at 2:30 I found this glorious recipe…I had packed my lunch of mixed romaine, walnuts, craisins, and tuna and my (now abandoned) raspberry viniagrette…in a moment of spontaneity I made your dressing to throw on top! I would just as soon drink this dressing as use it for its intended purpose!!! Awesome! And living in south ga where fresh strawberries are found in over abundance when in season it’s good to have another idea for using the ones that aren’t perfect.
Made it in my ninja single serve attachment and started singing this in my head which is my new jam :) http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=7fDuNuFNG38&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D7fDuNuFNG38
Thanks :)
LOVE that you made it already, H :) You’re the best
I’m not a fan of spinach. Is there another type of green you would recommend in it’s place?
Hey there,
I think mixed baby greens or spring mix would be best!
Andie
I made the dressing today – It is soooo good! My hubby liked it too, and he’s not a fan of salads. :)
YAY!! Thank you!
Hubby ate all the chicken, so for my lunch the next day I added avocado instead… DIVINE.
Bunny I too had a magic bullet years ago, never used it and now would KILL to have it with me in the jungle. Plus you are driving me crazy with these salads. I’m on an island that has almost no vegetables. I get denied when I ask for a plate of cabbage and was laughed at today when I asked for watermelon and pineapple to be added to the two salad ingredients they had: tomato and cucumber. This is my life. Desperately seeking vegetables on an island.
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Hi Andi! I really love your blog and nominated you for a Liebster Award! I don’t know if your blog qualifies as “small” but I just love it…so I went ahead and nominated you anyway :)
Check it out here: http://cestcaliforniavie.com/2013/05/04/liebster-award/
Cheers!
this salad is something i’ve been dreaming about – even before i knew it existed! just over from blog every day in may blog marathon =)
I used to never be able to understand people who put fruit like strawberries on their salads, but I love strawberries and balsamic vinegar.
Best recipe ever. I think this will be a go to summer staple
OMGosh, that strawberry dressing is TDF! Must try.
Nothing against a bullet, but did you know a pint sized mason jar screws perfectly onto a blender base to make single serve smoothies, sauces, etc.?
WHAT?!! That’s so cool; never knew! Thanks for the tip!!
I was so excited when I read that the first time, but, alas, I have a strange, square-bottom blender, so it didn’t work. :-(
I just wanted to say THANKS for this recipe. I keep ready made salad in my fridge as a staple, too, and so a new variation is always great. This one was a winner, I wanted to be a pig with the feta/strawberry dressing. Thanks again.
Such a gorgeous recipe, I have never had strawberry dressing.. this is a must-do now that they are going to be in season. Bookmarking. Your story is so inspiring.
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You know I have never heard of the magic bullet. I havent been living on a desert island but I must be out of touch.. The recipe looks fantastic however. Off to look for more about that bullet now!
This is going to be dinner! I’m adding fresh mint from my new mint plant (I have to do something with it LOL) to the dressing and I don’t have any almonds… But i’m sure it’s going to be delicious anyway!
Hi Andie,
I cannot wait to make this!
One question though – how do you grill your chicken. (aside from the obvious…on a grill….) Any tips? I’m always afraid of overcooking and not getting that awesome chargrill :)
Have you tried switching lemon to lime juice? Do you think it would be a good idea?
Hey Chris,
I think that could be a nice twist. I like lemon for its cleaner, more pure flavor, but I do think that the subtle difference lime would offer would still be fresh and delicious.
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Hey Andie,
I have been making this dressing for a couple of weeks now…I just LOVE it! So easy, yummy and different:) I have started a food instagram called ChasingHungry where I am posting my favorite recipes while loosing weight…yours of course. are filling up the account, but it was so great to be able to put the recipe on there because it was so easy:) I am not to technical, but if there is a way to get people to your blog from my insta other than @andiemitchell I am happy to do that..I am so thankful for your site and want to help others with their journey as well by sending them to your blog:) xoxoxo
I love seeing your instagram Carol! Just followed you :) Thank you so, so much for all that you’ve done over the past couple months–I’ve absolutely loved waking up every day and seeing which recipes you’ve made! xo
Absolutely delicious! Perfect match between these ingredients. And that dressing! :P
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