August is a time of year when the fresh fruits and vegetables are at their peak! This is a great time to eat your fill of all the freshness the season has to offer and enjoy all the nutrient rich benefits of a large variety of colorful, fresh food.
I have put together a list for you to pin, share and inspire you!
How would you use some of these? Share with me in the comments and share this post with friends who love good food!
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!
*This post has affiliate links in it. I receive a very small commission if you purchase through my links. The small commission helps cover the cost of maintaining this blog. Thanks! 🙂
Looking to shake up your salads? I have you covered with 20 delicious recipes that I rounded up for you so you don’t have to! Lighter Fare is very appealing in the warmer months of Summer. The Farm Markets are bursting with peak-season produce chocked full of abundant nutrients.
Enjoy these 20 Paleo Summer Salad recipes by some wonderful bloggers. Mix it up! The fleeting availability of Summer fruit and vegetables make it an exciting time for salads. Make the most of the season!
Bacon Date Fennel Salad with Grilled Peaches from Savory Lotus
Low FodMap Seven Layer Salad from A Girl Worth Saving
Broccoli Salad with Crispy Bacon from Paleo Grubs
Paleo Steak Salad with Coconut Pan Fried-Peaches by Paleo Magazine
Tangled Thai Salad by Danielle Walker
Summer Peach and Berry Fruit Salad by Me 🙂
Paleo Detox Salad from Fed & Fit
Hot Cranberry Spinach Salad from The Paleo Mom
Warm Taco Style Salad from The Healthy Foodie
Bistro Lemon Chicken Dinner Salad by Me 🙂
Tarragon Chicken Salad with Asparagus, Strawberries and Djon Vinaigrette from The Thin Twin
Easy Turkey and Bacon Club Salad from Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites
Italian Chopped Salad from Paleo Hope and Autoimmune Disease
Strawberry and Macadamia Nut Chicken Salad from Girl Meets Paleo
Chicken and Cabbage Salad with Almond Butter Dressing from Paleo Leap
Endive, Radicchio and Apple Salad with Porkitos and Hazelnuts by Nom Nom Paleo
Cape Cod Chopped Salad by Barefoot Contessa via Food Network (Cheese Optional)
Deli Chicken Salad by Sam
Peachy Jar Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette by Sam
Spiralized Golden Beet Salad by Sam
It’s Asparagus Season! After my trip to Florida this month, I came home and recreated a salad I had while dining at a French restaurant, Bistro Chez Jean-Pierre, in Palm Beach. They made the salad on the fly, just for me, when I told them of my food intolerances. The asparagus was crisp tender, and the leafy greens tossed in a vinaigrette where perfect with it. They also brought out a beautiful bowl of fresh berries for me for dessert.
Spring and Summer are the easiest times to eat local, seasonal food, and I like to take advantage of the Farmer’s Markets for sure! Research has proven that nutrients are the most plentiful in produce when it has just been harvested. After it has traveled to the store and sat on the shelves for several days, the nutrient content lessens day by day. (You can read more about this here).
French Asparagus Salad
It is such a pretty salad! I hope you give it a try and also take advantage of all the beautiful, locally grown food this time of year. Your body will love you for it!
French Asparagus Salad
Ingredients:
10 Asparagus Spears, Snapped at the ends to remove tough portion
2 Cups of Fresh Leafy Salad Greens (You Choose)
1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper, Diced
2 Tablespoons of Sliced Green Onion
Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Teaspoon of Djon Mustard
1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
1/4 Teaspoon of Dried Parsley
1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar
1/2 Cup Good Olive Oil
Directions: Whisk the dressing together until emulsified. Refrigerate any leftovers.
To make the salad, steam the asparagus for six minutes until fork tender but not mushy. Immediately move while it is hot to a shallow bowl, and toss with 2 Tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Let this sit for ten minutes to marinate.
Place the two cups of leafy greens in another bowl, and toss with a generous amount of vinaigrette. Arrange the asparagus on two plates evenly in a fan. Add the diced red pepper artfully. Then mound the leafy greens at the end of the spears. Sprinkle with scallions and a little additional salt and pepper.
It is ready to serve!
Eat Your Nutrients!
On a beautiful Summer evening, I don’t want to be in the kitchen. Did you ever notice with grilling, you get to sit and relax while the food cooks more than when you are preparing a meal in the kitchen?
Grilled Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Scallions with Fresh Basil and Dill
Grilled vegetables also taste really delicious, they aren’t mushy, and you can combine ones that have relatively the same cooking time, toss them with a marinade and seasonings and come up with endless one dish vegetable sides.
Here is a fairly quick recipe for grilled zucchini, tomatoes and scallions I find Summery and a crowd pleaser.
Grilled Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Scallions with Fresh Basil and Dill
Grilled Zucchini, Tomatoes and Scallions with Fresh Basil and Dill
Organic Ingredients:
4 Zucchini on the smaller side (about 4 cups) sliced into spears
2 Local Medium Tomatoes (any color)
1 Bunch of Scallions, sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil, torn roughly into pieces
1 Tablespoon Fresh Snipped Dill
2 Tablespoons of Virgin Avocado Oil
1 Teaspoon of Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt
Directions:
In a large bowl toss all the prepped ingredients together until well coated with oil. Place in a grill pan with holes. Grill on medium for 30 minutes, top of grill down, (relax until the vegetables are tender).
Eat Your Nutrients!
Sam Eats Her Nutrients 
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