These first few meals I’m guessing will probably be easier to put together and better than the ones we eat towards the end of the challenge. Last night’s dinner was so good. It makes me sad I didn’t think about it earlier this summer. With a loaf of crusty bread it would make the easiest summer dinner. This dinner will make a reappearance in our meal line up.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN CAPRESE SALAD
Served 4 as a side or 2 as a meal

2 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless (mine were thinner chicken breasts)
2 T butter I am all out of olive oil
Balsamic vinegar, a couple good splashes
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to your taste preferences
water

Season chicken breasts with salt & pepper on both sides. Coat chicken with a couple good splashes of balsamic vinegar. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add butter/oil. Add chicken breasts to the butter and sprinkle the garlic on top of the chicken. Cook about 5 minutes, turn breasts over and cook 4-5 minutes on this side. Stir the garlic so it doesn’t burn. Give the chicken breasts another splash of vinegar and a splash of water then reduce down to a lovely brown glaze. Remove chicken and turn off heat and remove pan. Let chicken sit 4-5 minutes before slicing thinly. Place chicken on assembled salad and pour glaze over top of the chicken.

CAPRESE SALAD
lettuce
4 thin slices of fresh mozzarella (it is soft)
2-3 Roma tomatoes sliced
2 sliced, cooked balsamic chicken breasts
fresh basil
salt & pepper to taste

Place lettuce on a large plate. Top with sliced mozzarella and tomatoes. Salt & pepper according to your taste preferences. Add sliced balsamic chicken and the balsamic garlic glaze. Top the salad with fresh sprigs of basil.

*The tomatoes and basil came from my garden

Tom Thumb lettuce is a cute little variety of butterhead lettuce. It forms a loose little head. When I got the lettuce home, I trimmed off the roots and spread the leaves out in my kitchen sink filled with cold water. This helped crisp them up and clean off all the dirt. When I was in high school, I worked in the produce department at Hy-Vee, every morning I would take all the leaf lettuces, broccoli, radishes, and green onions off the shelf and give them a good soak in ice cold water to help crisp them up again. These were the days before they had the fancy sprinkler system built into the shelves in the produce section, but I digress. I would recommend waiting to wash and dry your lettuce right before you are going to use it. Once your lettuce is washed, you could always take it for a spin one of those fancy-schmancy salad spinners, or spread the leaves out on a clean kitchen towel to absorb all the water like I did.

Farm fresh lettuce deserves an equally fresh dressing. I paired this cute Tom Thumb lettuce with a fresh strawberry vinaigrette. Tossed on some walnuts and a little feta cheese, and I was in salad heaven.

Thank you to Black Sheep Farms for providing the produce for me to experiment with!

* My kids (ages 3 and 19 months) loved this salad. The next night at dinner Sasha commented that she didn’t see any salad on the table.

STRAWBERRY VINAIGRETTE
1/2 lb fresh Strawberries, hulled
1-1 1/2 T White wine vinegar
1 T sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of the strawberries)

Place hulled strawberries in the freezer for 30 minutes. Place semi-frozen strawberries in food processor, puree until smooth. With food processor on add vinegar and sugar, stir to combine.

TOM THUMB SALAD
this is for one serving
1 head Tom Thumb lettuce
1 T walnuts
1 T feta cheese
2 T Strawberry Vinaigrette

Toss all ingredients together and ENJOY!