Chicken and Strawberries over Mixed Greens

It's strawberry season! Which means I need to celebrate with at least a couple strawberry-themed recipes. Instead of serving for dessert, give strawberries an unexpected savory twist in this salad. You can cook and chop the Gardein chicken according to package directions ahead of time so this main dish salad comes together in a pinch.

Ingredients:

• 2 chopped and cooked Gardein Tuscan chicken breasts (without sauce)
• 2 cups quartered small strawberries
• 1/3 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons golden raisins*
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds**
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups gourmet salad greens

1. In a bowl, combine the chicken, strawberries, celery, red onion, and golden raisins.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, tarragon, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, salt, and black pepper.

3. Pour the sesame mixture over the chicken mixture and toss to coat.  Cover and chill for 1 hour.

4. Place 1 cup greens on each of 4 plates, and top each serving with about 1 and 1/4 cups strawberry mixture.

I recommend rounding out the meal with a coarse sea salt-and-rosemary focaccia.

*As with every time I use golden raisins, I prefer naturally golden Hunza raisins to those treated with sulfur dioxide.

**Toast your sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium heat for just about 3 minutes, making sure to stir frequently so they don't burn.

Nutrition Info:
4 servings (1 and 1/4 cups strawberry mixture, 1 cup greens), Calories 164 

Tasting Notes:
The tarragon makes this dish, the perfect flavor to bridge the savory Gardein and the sweet little strawberries. This would be the perfect salad for a summer potluck or picnic, especially since the finely chopped celery and red onion made me think of other summer sides like potato salad. I'd make two significant changes: first, I'd prepare an extra half batch of dressing to toss with the gourmet greens before plating, and secondly, I would use sunflower seeds instead of the tiny sesame seeds.

Rating:
3.5

Update:
Tarragon is one of the few herbs that I don't mind using dried, since it retains both a strong flavor and scent.

So go ahead and used dried tarragon if you want to cut out a little bit of chopping, or if you want to make this dish on a night your market doesn't have good fresh tarragon, as happened to me when I craved this salad a second time around: