This is my favorite salad, hands down. The chicken makes it hearty, and the dressing is to die for. (In fact, I love that the dressing makes a lot because I use it on tons of other “throw together” salads.) And once you try this, it will be your go-to party salad for the rest of your life. It makes a lot and everyone always raves about it. I make it for almost every shower I am in charge of… and basically any get together that requires a light lunch/dinner. I usually keep all the ingredients separate, and then I toss together whatever amount seems right for the group right before serving. If the salad bowl starts to get low, I quickly toss together some more. The last time I made this I made a HUGE bowl for a wedding shower. There was lots of other food to eat, and everyone had gotten a nice big plate of it. However, when the bowl started to get low I decided to toss some more just in case. Well, I accidentally tossed almost a full huge salad again. I was thinking I would have to drop some off to some friends on my way home so it wouldn’t get wasted. But I should have known it would never get that far. As soon as I moved away from the bowl, a steady stream of girls were back for seconds. I am not kidding you… this is a fabulous salad! :)
Chicken Poppy Seed Salad
Resubmitted by Mindy (Originally submitted by Brittany)
www.www.thesisterscafe.com
Salad:
Spinach leaves
Spinach leaves
Romaine leaves
Grilled chicken, sliced (Best if marinated in Lemon Grilled Chicken Marinade*, but if you don’t have time then grill with lots of lemon pepper seasoning)
Red onion, sliced thinly
Crispy bacon, crumbled
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Toasted almonds (or you can sugar the almonds. Put sliced almonds in a pan with lots of granulated sugar (about equal amounts). Cook on medium heat until sugar melts, coating the almonds as they brown.)
*Lemon Grilled Chicken:
Juice of one lemon (~3 Tb lemon juice)
3 Tb oil
1 tsp minced garlic (~2 large cloves)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 lb chicken breasts
Marinate the chicken overnight. For salad, dice the raw chicken and marinate it that way so there is more surface area to marinate. You can get away with marinating for a shorter amount of time this way. Grilling is best, but cooking in a skillet is great, too.
The best part… The Dressing**:
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tb Maui or Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cups canola oil
3 Tb poppy seeds
Mix the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then slowly add the oil, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds. Toss all ingredients together with generous amount of dressing before serving.
**This makes a lot of dressing! If you need a really big salad for a party then start with a large bunch of spinach, large head of romaine, 4 chicken breasts, 1 lb bacon, etc. I rarely make a salad that big so that is why there are no “amounts”. So have fun with it – you’re going to love it!
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Looks delicious! I linked to you in my Friday Favorites… http://laniejandco.blogspot.com
Okay, this is making my mouth water. Seriously.
Mmmm yum! Looks good:)
The Peppered Pantry~
Gotta love this salad! I actually made it for dinner the other night – yum!!
This salad looks fabulous! I printed off a copy to make it this weekend
I've made this salad a bunch too, and it's always a hit!
This does look terrific… love a filling salad like this for a lite lunch
This salad looks amazing. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I can't wait to try it.
Made this for our Sunday dinner. There is only two of us so I cut the ingredients down a bit. We just loved it.
I love your blog. You have some very wonderful recipes.
Thanks.
I just brought this salad to a potluck at work and everyone died over it!! Thanks for all of the amazing recipes.
Made this last night – it was Soooo good!! Thanks for sharing!
This salad is better then anything I have ever had in a restaurant. I make this dressing all the time and use it in many of my salads. Also a shallot works great in place of the onion. I do cut the sugar down some because I am trying to make it a little healthier. Its hands down the best salad in my book
this is the BEST salad and dressing this old girl has ever eaten .. in all my 71yrs!!!
I really think that this is the best. I love the combination of the ingredients so much.
This dressing is also great on a sald made of romaine lettuce, shredded swiss cheese, dried tart cherries and cashews.
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