Summertime Salad

In the last two years, I have really discovered what it means to be healthy, mind, body, and soul. While this recipe only takes care of the healthy-body part of that, it is important to realize how focusing on your health from every angle can bring out a better, more energized you. Personally, I've really noticed what foods make me feel terrible and what foods make me feel like I'm on top of the world after eating them. I don't know about you, but sometimes when I eat something fattening, I am really excited about it at the time, and then I immediately regret it when my stomach starts to bloat after. With this salad, I can guarantee you will be feeling full and satisfied after trying this recipe. 

Salads are one of the best things to feed your body and most people realize that, however salads can get boring and sometimes they don't feel filling enough to keep you satisfied throughout the day. That's why I am always looking for new ingredients to add to my salads and ways to make them as flavorful as possible without being unhealthy. 

I posted this salad on my Instagram at the beginning of summer and I wanted to let you all in on the recipe. In the summertime I love to put fresh fruit in my salads. It is a great way to sweeten your salad without having to use a lot of high-fat dressings that contain sugar. The natural sugars that come from the fruit are much healthier than drenching it in dressings. 

Living in the midwest, we only have a few months where fresh fruit is really great and so I like to use that to my advantage when putting together recipes of all sorts, but especially salads. This salad is heavy on the strawberries because strawberries are one of my favorite summer snacks and they really pack flavor unlike some other fruits. I hope you enjoy this salad when you make it for your friends and family or maybe just for yourself as a meal prep.

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup toasted almonds
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 1/2 large cucumber
- 3 chicken breasts
- 3 tbs chipotle barbecue sauce
- 4 tbs feta cheese



Directions:

1) Heat grill or sauce pan, place chicken on the grill and cook for 6 min on each side. Brush chicken breasts with chipotle barbecue sauce. Set aside to cool

2) Turn on oven broiler and place almonds on an oven tray. Toast almonds for 4 minutes. - can be done in a pan as well. Meanwhile, chop strawberries (sliced) and cucumber (diced)

3) Place arugala in a large bowl with strawberries and cucumber, toss lightly.

4) Place tossed salad on serving dish. Sprinkle the toasted almonds and feta cheese on top.

5) Slice cooled chicken breasts and place on top of the salad. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic on top to taste.

The last photo is of the salad without meat. As many of you know,  I used to be a vegetarian so it's a great alternative and makes the salad even quicker without the meat.

All done! It's as easy as that! I hope you enjoy

-Emma xx