I’m a big fan of sweet fruit paired with poultry, and love a good salad sandwich.  Bringing cherries and chicken together for a yummy sammie is the best thing you can do in these hot summer months when the kitchen is the last place you want to be.  I used some left over chicken, fresh cherries, red onion and nuts.  Pair this little number with a rindless parrano cheese or cheddar cheese and serve on a multi grain bread.

Ingredients for Chicken Cherry Salad:

2 – cups chicken pieces

1 – cup Whole Foods Market cherries

1/2 – cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 – cup pecans (coarsely chopped)

2 – tablespoons dijon mustard

1/3 – cup mayo

salt and pepper to taste

2 – tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

choice of bread and cheese

Mix chicken, cherries, red onion, and pecans in a bowl until combined.

Then add mustard, mayo, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and mix again.

Then spread it on bread and add cheese and or avocado…. whatever you like.  Even enjoy it on crackers or chips.

Scroll down for Cherry Watermelon Sangria!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Whole Foods Market. However all opinions and recipes are my own. I genuinely love Whole Foods Market. 🙂

I’ve been known to sing silly songs.  I make up my own lyrics and improvise where my mind draws a blank….  isn’t that part of the creative process?  Either way I think of David Bowie’s song “Changes” everytime I eat or make Chinese Chicken Salad….  I like to say “Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chinese Chicken Salad” in the same way he sings “Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.”  Anything to get my Bowie fix for the day.  Picture me on this hot day in a pair of cut off Levi’s (very 70’s) with the little strings hanging, an old Ziggy Stardust t-shirt eating my Chinese Chicken Salad filled with mandarin oranges, ramen and almonds!

Ingredients for Chinese Chicken Salad:

1 – head of green cabbage (chopped)

1 – bunch of cilantro (just the leaves are needed)

7 – stalks of Dole green onion

1 1/2 – cups sliced almonds

1 – cup of Dole mandarin oranges

3/4 – cup grated carrot

Favorite Chinese Chicken Salad dressing

1 – package of instant ramen noodles (crushed and uncooked)

Left over grilled or rotisserie chicken pieces (2 to 3 cups)

Cut cabbage in half then slice cabbage very thinly, until all is sliced. Add to a big bowl. Wash cilantro and add leaves to the cabbage bowl.

Next cut off the stringy ends of the green onions and a small portion of the green ends. Then thinly slice and add to the cabbage bowl. Pour almonds on top of green onion. Mix well.

Add mandarin oranges, carrots, and salad dressing. Mix well.

Then top with ramen, and chicken and give it a final mix.

All photos taken by: Mando Lopez

There’s something very reassuring about eating kale salad.  Number 1, you know you made the right choice for your body that day.  Number 2, this leafy green is high in fiber and has zero fat.  Number 3, Kale is high in Calcium, Vitamin A, C and K, and has more Iron than beef.  Number 4, Kale is an anti-inflammatory packed with powerful antioxidents!  These are reasons enough for me to want to eat this salad again and again.

I always shake up my Kale salad by making different dressings.  Remember to make your kale salad a few hours in advance and allow it to sit in the dressing just to soften the roughage up a bit.

Kale Salad in Tahini Dressing:

1- bundle Kale

2 – large lemons (juiced) 

1/2 – cup Joyva sesame tahini puree

2 – garlic cloves (minced)

3- tablespoons of lime flavored soy sauce

1/4 – cup water

1/2 – cup pine nuts ( I like to toast mine)

Start by rinsing your Kale well.

Then place on a cutting board and cut into bit size shreds.  Place in a big bowl.

In a mixing bowl add lemon juice, tahini sesame puree, minced garlic, soy sauce and water.  Mix well.  At first the mixture will curdle then as you continue mixing it will go smooth.

Pour over chopped Kale and mix well to combine.

Next add pine nuts and cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours or over night. Enjoy!

 All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Easter just wouldn’t be complete without the presence of an ambrosia salad.  I love this colorful, sweet and creamy salad. Some people make it with fruit cocktail, but my family prepares this little gem of a salad with mostly fresh fruit.  Take sweet fruit and add nuts, marshmallows and cream to the bowl for a super yummy bunny treat. Even the Easter Rabbit will not be able to refuse.  Adults and children alike scramble for the last bite. If ambrosia salad is not an Easter staple for you and yours,  you’re surely missing out.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for ambrosia salad:

3/4 – cup pineapple chunks (sliced in half)

1 – cup maraschino cherries (cut in half)

1 – cup green seedless grapes (cut in half)

1 – cup seedless tangerines (peeled, and chopped into cubes)

1 – basket strawberries (sliced)

1 1/2 – cups shredded sweetened coconut

1 – cup pear (cored and sliced)

1 – cup fuji apple (cored and sliced)

2 – bananas (sliced)

3/4 – cup almonds (chopped)

3/4 – cup pecans (chopped)

1 – cup sugar

1/2 – teaspoon  vanilla extract

2 – cups sour cream

1 – cup mini marshmallows

In a big bowl combine all chopped fruit. Then add chopped nuts and mix to combine. Set to the side.

In a bowl add sugar, vanilla and sour cream and mix well. Then pour the sweet cream mixture over the fruit. Mix well.

Then add marshmallows to fruit and cream mixture. Mix well and serve!

 HAPPY EASTER!

Before my blog I had my finger on the pulse of celebrity gossip.  Well to be quite honest with you, these days I have NO IDEA who’s dating who and the newest baby name trend. I’m out of the loop.  The only pairings I do know about are  the couples that have
fallen in love in my kitchen.  Their have been a few lately.  Plus I’ve always enjoyed playing matchmaker, and don’t ever mind making the initial introduction.  Recently I was snacking on a handful of All Natural Almond Accents happily lost in their crunch and freshness, then all of a sudden a light bulb in my head went on…..  They would couple well with Gorgeous Green Salad.  The rest is history.  I hear they’re living in a big beautiful bowl somewhere.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for Gorgeous Green Salad:

4 – cups mixed greens lettuce

1 – cup thinly sliced red cabbage

1 – cup thinly sliced cucumber

1/2 – cup chopped red onion

1 – small orange bell pepper (sliced)

5 – mushrooms (sliced)

1/2 – cup dried cranberries

4 – sliced radishes (about 2/3 cup)

1- cup cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)

1/2 – cup carrot shavings

1 – large avocado (sliced)

6 – ounces crumbled feta cheese

1 – green apple (cored and sliced)

3/4 – cup Almond Accents

Top with favorite dressing

Optional:

crumbled bacon

parmesan toast

Add mixed green lettuce to a BIG salad bowl. This will serve as your base.

Then add red cabbage and cucumber. I like to lay all ingredients out nicely.

Next layer in red onion, orange bell pepper and mushrooms…. it’s starting to look pretty.

Now for the dried cranberries, and radish. Once you’ve got that done…. add the cherry tomatoes and take a peeler and shave your carrot.

Add avocado and crumbled feta cheese.

Last but not least add green apple slices and introduce Almond Accents to Gorgeous Green Salad.

I like to top with an Italian salad dressing, crumbled bacon, and a piece of parmesan toast.

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Almond Accents to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.

Tuna wasn’t my favorite as a small child.  I use to say  “I don’t like tunic.”  Then my Mom would say “It’s not tunic, it’s tuna.”  Wow, those days are long gone.  I now adore tunic, I mean tuna.  It taste best paired with a nice nutty wheat bread, and as luck would have it, Oroweat just introduced a new loaf called Nutty Grain!  You would never know it’s only 80 calories per slice because it is seriously one of the best tasting breads that has come into the marketplace in a LONG time.  The two compliment each other perfectly. The tuna salad is decorated in flavor and makes you feel like there is a party in your mouth. Then once Nutty Grain joins the fun it brings along hints of molasses, whole grains and a nut crunch that will make you realize this bread will always be on your grocery list!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for Tuna Salad:

2 – 5oz. cans of tuna (I use one can of solid white, and one can of chunk light, both packed in water)

1/2 – cup shredded carrot

1/4 – cup chopped green onion

1/3 – cup chopped red onion

1/3 – cup dried cranberries

1/2 – cup sliced mushrooms

1/3 – cup chopped Lindsay black olives

1/4 – cup chopped zesty pickles

1/2 – cup grated jack cheese

1 – tablespoon white vinegar

3 – teaspoons spicy brown mustard

1/2 – cup mayonnaise

1/2 – teaspoon black pepper

Drain both cans of tuna.  Make sure you squeeze as much of the moisture out of the tuna as possible.  Then empty both cans into a bowl and shred tuna with hands or a fork to make flakey.

Then add carrots, green onion, red onion, dried cranberries, mushrooms, Lindsay olives, and pickles. Mix well.

Then add grated cheese and mix.

Add vinegar, mustard, and mayonnaise. Mix well. Add black pepper, and mix again.

That’s it… your done! Enjoy with two slices of Oroweat Nutty Grain for a nice light meal!

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a loaf of Oroweat’s Nutty Grain Bread to aid this recipe.

Summer is officially here, and with it the melting heat.  When the weather outside has decided to go insane…. I usually crave something COOL, fruity, and refreshing with a crisp feeling.  Then my RED fruit salad steps in and saves the day!

Ingredients for red fruit salad:

3 – cups watermelon (cut into 1 inch cubes)

2 – cups strawberries (each strawberry cut into 4 pieces)

1 – cup plums (each cut into 8 pieces)

1 – cup rainier cherries (cut in half)

1/8 – cup sugar

Mint (optional)

In a big bowl add all fruit, and mix well.  Sprinkle sugar over top, mix well, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes in refrigerator.  Garnish with mint or slice little pieces in with fruit.

🙂 Red Fruit Salad Tip: Serve in little bowl over ice cream. Top a plain yellow cake with fruit salad and whip cream. Or eat it all on it’s own.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley