Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Chicken, Artichoke, Oven Dried Tomato Salad with Pesto Dressing



I finally made the salad I've been wanting to make since making my first batch of oven-dried tomatoes a few weeks ago. I made a second batch of tomatoes on Saturday with tomatoes from my in-laws' garden. I didn't pack them in olive oil this time so they wouldn't be soggy for my salad. Oven-dried tomatoes is a perfect way to use up extra tomatoes from your garden.

This yummy salad is a recreation of something I had a few years ago at a little cafe. It was the first time I had oven-dried tomatoes, and I fell in love with them that day. I also adored the creamy pesto dressing.

I don't have exact amounts for anything with this salad. Just throw it in a bowl and enjoy. I also made two pesto dressings - one creamy and one not. No exact amounts with the dressings either. I just add and taste until I'm happy with the outcome.

Ingredients
  • Romaine lettuce, chopped
  • Spinach
  • Grilled lemon chicken (recipe here)
  • Oven-dried tomatoes
  • Artichoke hearts (I used marinated ones, rinsed & drained.)
  • Pine nuts, toasted
I like half romaine and half spinach to add some variety. I like the crunch of the romaine. Spinach by itself as a salad is a little too wimpy for me.

Pesto Dressing
  • A couple tablespoons of pesto (I used basil, pine nut, parmesan pesto.)
  • Splash of balsamic vinegar
  • Squeeze of lemon (I like lots of lemon.)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Just mix everything together. If it's too thick, add a bit of olive oil.

Creamy Pesto Dressing
  • About 1/4 cup of pesto
  • A couple tablespoons of Greek yogurt
  • A spoonful of mayo (optional)
  • Splash of balsamic vinegar
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Mix everything together.

That's it. Easy salad to throw together. I had the pesto dressing, and Husband loved the creamy pesto. I think the salad would be equally delicious with just plain pesto as well. Hope you like it!



5 comments:

  1. I love every ingredient in this salad, will have to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So, it has been a VERY long time since I've looked at your blog! All of these August posts are new to me--since a few days after I got home from AZ, I was in the throes of my first trimester.

    This salad looks AMAZING. I was almost bought a jar of pesto today, but didn't because it was Costco sized and I had no idea what I'd do with that much pesto before it went bad. Maybe next week...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Creamy pesto so good, made an interpretation of this and forgot to tell you. Yum.

    ReplyDelete

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