Recipe and photos by Launie Kettler
With summer in full swing and heat waves kicking in, we decided it was a good time to throw some of our favorite flavors on a plate with a refreshing summer salad recipe!
And when it comes to throwing together a big salad for a lunch or dinner entrée, we like to grab some chicken, fruit and salty cheese. Because nothing plays better together than spicy chicken, sweet and tart fruit, and salty cheese. And when you round it out with a lemon dill vinaigrette – well – that’s a big ole bunch of summer on one plate!
We’re lucky enough to have a grill to play with, but if you don’t, then just throw the chicken in the oven for about 20-22 minutes, or until it reaches 165 degrees with a meat thermometer. (Or, if you really want to get fancy, you could chop the chicken and toss it in the marinade and then broil it for a few minutes to make it all charred and delicious. And I’m not kidding about that. Charred chicken is delicious chicken.)
And then we went for blueberries and nectarines because that’s what we saw in our mind’s eye.
Striking blueberries.
Bright and sparkly nectarines.
Are there any fruits that jump off the plate with so much color?
And if there are, we don’t want to know, because blueberries and nectarines have feelings too, people. And no one wants to hurt their feelings!
Now that we’ve waxed rhapsodic about fruit, let’s talk about that grilled chicken – it’s coated in spicy and earthy spices like cumin and chili powder to give you the savory hit of flavor that plays oh, so, well, with fruit.
So, without further ado, grab that F.N. Sharp utility knife, chef’s knife, or Santoku, get that cutting board ready and let’s make a big, bold, summer salad!
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Grilled Chicken Summer Salad with Blueberries, Nectarines, Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese & Homemade Vinaigrette Dressing
Ingredients for the Chicken:
Save Money With the Whole Bird: How to Break Down Chicken into Breasts, Wings & Thighs
Instructions for the Chicken:
Salad ingredients:
Need Help Cutting Up Those Fruits & Veggies? Check Out These F.N. Sharp Guides:
🔪 How to Choose, Cut & Store 30 Types of Fruit
🔪 How to Choose, Cut & Store 43 Types of Veggies
🔪 Greek Pasta Salad with Pomegranate and Grilled Lemon
Salad Instructions:
Lemon Dill Vinaigrette Ingredients:
Vinaigrette Instructions:
Love BIG Salads? Check Out These F.N. Sharp Recipes:
🔪 Blood Orange Winter Salad With Air Fried Chickpeas & Homemade Vinaigrette
🔪 Steakhouse Chopped Salad With Tarragon Vinaigrette Dressing
🔪 Greek Pasta Salad with Pomegranate and Grilled Lemon
About the Recipe Creator
Launie Kettler is a food writer and photographer who cooks big food in a small kitchen in northern Vermont. Her husband and cats are tolerant of the fact that she plays the same Wilco and Son Volt albums over and over while pontificating about the beauty of cumin.
Launie is also the co-author of The Everything Mediterranean Slow Cooker Cookbook and her recipes have been featured in Where Women Cook, Fresh Magazine, and on Salon.
You can find and follow Launie's adventures on her social handle @teenytinykitchenvt on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and her blog at TeenyTinyKitchen.com.
