Strawberry Chicken Salad with Poppyseed Dressing = Exquisite

 

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  poppy seed dressing
• 1/4  cup  mayonnaise
• 1 1/2  pounds  chopped cooked chicken (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 2  celery ribs, sliced
• 1/2  small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2  cup  slivered almonds, toasted 
• 1  (10-ounce) package mixed salad greens
• 1  avocado, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Garnishes: avocado slices, whole strawberries

Preparation

Whisk together dressing and mayonnaise in a large bowl; cover and chill 30 minutes.
Add chopped chicken (after you boil the chicken and either dice or shred-your preference) and next 3 ingredients to dressing mixture, gently tossing to coat. Serve over mixed salad greens, and put strawberries and avocado on the top of the salad.

I served this with multi-grain bread (as usual:))  Pineapple would also be a good addition to the side.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Gnocchi Soup w/Turkey Sausage

I really think I can get by with saying this is the EASIEST recipe I have EVER made, and Jay O. said it was "excellent" & I agree 100%. It only took 15 minutes tops to prepare, and you know how you usually have to let soup simmer for awhile to soak up the flavor?  Not this one!  

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 3  (4.5-ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage
• 2  cups  water
• 1  (16-ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi (such as Bellino or Vigo- I had no luck finding gnocchi at Kroger, but they have it have Fresh Market and I have seen it at Wal-Mart before...I'm sure they have it at Whole Foods as well)
• 1  (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1  (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. of your favorite hot sauce - if your not a fan of spice, omit. 
• Red pepper falkes
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble, make sure to spray cooking spray or drizzle olive oil lightly on the pan before adding sausage.
2. Add 2 cups water and next 5 ingredients to pan; bring to a boil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste, stir.   Reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi float to the top of pan. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle each serving evenly with cheese.

Nutritional Information

Calories:  192

Fat:  4g (sat 1.7g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)

Protein:  10.5g

Carbohydrate:  25.1g

 

I served this dish with multi-grain bread.  Now you have no excuse to pick something up on the way home from work because you don't have time to cook...this is effortless!!!  ENJOY!

 

And, my apologies for being MIA on the blog the past few weeks.  I have been out of commission due to stitches and haven't been able to be in the kitchen.  Doing much better now, and am trying to play catch up on new recipes!  Megan and Charlie are coming over tonight for a new strawberry chicken salad recipe with poppyseed dressing...I'll let you know how it turns out =)