Favorites Friday: Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

 

This is my favorite salad, hands down.   The chicken makes it hearty, and the dressing is to die for.  (In fact, I love that the dressing makes a lot because I use it on tons of other "throw together" salads.)  And once you try this, it will be your go-to party salad for the rest of your life.  It makes a lot and everyone always raves about it.  I make it for almost every shower I am in charge of... and basically any get together that requires a light lunch/dinner.  I usually keep all the ingredients separate, and then I toss together whatever amount seems right for the group right before serving.  If the salad bowl starts to get low, I quickly toss together some more.  The last time I made this I made a HUGE bowl for a wedding shower.  There was lots of other food to eat, and everyone had gotten a nice big plate of it.  However, when the bowl started to get low I decided to toss some more just in case.  Well, I accidentally tossed almost a full huge salad again.  I was thinking I would have to drop some off to some friends on my way home so it wouldn't get wasted.  But I should have known it would never get that far.  As soon as I moved away from the bowl, a steady stream of girls were back for seconds.  I am not kidding you... this is a fabulous salad! :)

Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

Resubmitted by Mindy (Originally submitted by Brittany)

www.www.thesisterscafe.com

Printable Recipe

Salad:
Spinach leaves

Romaine leaves

Grilled chicken, sliced (Best if marinated in Lemon Grilled Chicken Marinade*, but if you don't have time then grill with lots of lemon pepper seasoning)

Red onion, sliced thinly

Crispy bacon, crumbled

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Toasted almonds (or you can sugar the almonds. Put sliced almonds in a pan with lots of granulated sugar (about equal amounts). Cook on medium heat until sugar melts, coating the almonds as they brown.)

*Lemon Grilled Chicken:

Juice of one lemon (~3 Tb lemon juice)

3 Tb oil

1 tsp minced garlic (~2 large cloves)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1 lb chicken breasts

Marinate the chicken overnight.  For salad, dice the raw chicken and marinate it that way so there is more surface area to marinate.  You can get away with marinating for a shorter amount of time this way. Grilling is best, but cooking in a skillet is great, too.

The best part... The Dressing**:

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tsp dry mustard

2/3 cup red wine vinegar

3 Tb Maui or Vidalia onion, chopped

2 cups canola oil

3 Tb poppy seeds

 

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then slowly add the oil, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds. Toss all ingredients together with generous amount of dressing before serving.

 

**This makes a lot of dressing! If you need a really big salad for a party then start with a large bunch of spinach, large head of romaine, 4 chicken breasts, 1 lb bacon, etc. I rarely make a salad that big so that is why there are no "amounts". So have fun with it - you're going to love it!