This chicken salad is my current Summer obsession! It has all the bright flavors of Summertime with it’s bright lemon and strawberry flavors with the bite of black pepper! Perfection!

I do hope you give it a go, because I think you will really love it!

One of the keys to a really good chicken salad with white breast meat is roasting the chicken breasts to absolute perfection. It is handy to have a instant read thermometer for this. Another tip when roasting boneless, skinless breasts is to rub them with olive oil. It locks in the juices!

Ming loves Strawberry season! We got freshly picked ones from the Farmer’s Market!

I use a loose mayonnaise based dressing in this chicken salad that has plenty of fresh lemon juice for a lovely zing!

Also incorporated into this salad is crunchy toasted pecans, two kinds of onions (scallions and yellow) and fresh diced strawberries!

Strawberry Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad

Ingredients for the Chicken:

3 pounds of good quality boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 to 5)

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Zest of one Large Lemon

1/2 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

Preheat your oven to 400° degrees F. Lay out the chicken breasts on a rimmed baking sheet. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Brush all over both sides of the breasts evenly. Roast in your preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and do not take the breasts over 165° to ensure your chicken is juicy and tender. Check it at 20 minutes, remove any smaller breasts that may cook faster, then keep roasting if necessary in three minute increments until the chicken is done at 165° F. I can’t stand a dry breast!

When the chicken is done, remove it from the baking sheet onto a plate, then cover it with another plate to cool.

Assembling the Salad:

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Fresh Ripe Strawberries, diced

1/2 Cup of Finely Diced Yellow Onion

1/2 Cup of Green Scallions, sliced

1/2 Cup of Toasted Pecans (Toast at 350° degrees F. for 8 minutes) cooled and chopped

1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon of Sea Salt

1/4 Cup of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (from the lemon you zested for the chicken)

1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Good Mayo (I use this kind)

1 Tablespoon of Really Good Honey (Local is Lovely)

Directions to finish the Chicken Salad:

Cube your cooled chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl. Add the diced yellow onion, scallions, and toasted chopped pecans. In a blender, blend together the chicken salad dressing ingredients until creamy and smooth: (the mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, sea salt, black pepper). Pour the dressing over the chicken salad (saving the strawberries for last as they are tender) Toss the chicken salad until the ingredients are evenly disbursed and coated with the dressing. Now, fold in the diced strawberries. Chill and serve.

I hope you enjoy this delicious warm weather chicken salad full of the bright flavors of Summertime!

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