Chicken and Spinach Salad with Peaches and Blueberries

Now that it’s finally peach season I’ve been going a little too crazy buying peaches. So far I’ve made a dessert, dinner, breakfast, and drinks with my peaches, so I’m pretty proud of myself for fulfilling my promise not to let peach season slip away from me as quickly as strawberry season did this year. I do think I’m ready to take a bit of a break from peaches now though. It’s not that I’m sick of eating them, I don’t think I could ever get sick of sweet, juicy ripe peaches. But I am sick to death of trying to peel them and getting peach juice all over the kitchen and myself. I know it would be a lot easier if I blanched them quickly in boiling water first, but that would require waiting for water to boil and I’m far too impatient for that.

Anyways, today I’m sharing the first of three delicious peach recipes. This salad is really fresh and flavourful and highlights some of my favourite summer ingredients. The flavours all work really well together, with the sweet peaches and blueberries being balanced out by the richness of the goat cheese and the acidity in the dressing, and the pecans adding a nice crunch. The addition of chicken made this great as a main dish, but you could also leave it out to serve this salad as a side dish.

I made this for Ryan and I because we’re both trying to eat a little better lately, and Ryan was surprised when I told him it was healthy because he assumes that all things that taste good are bad for you. He actually said that it tasted like something you would get at a restaurant, which I consider a big compliment coming from someone who usually isn’t too fond of “healthy food”. 

It’s a little hard to get all the components on your fork, but once you take a bite you’ll be instantly reaching for another forkful!

Stay tuned for more peach recipes coming up later this week!

Chicken and Spinach Salad with Peaches and Blueberries

Adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Salad:

About 3 oz baby spinach

1 cup sliced cooked chicken breast (I bought this pre-made but you could cook it yourself)

1 cup sliced peeled peaches

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.

Divide spinach onto two plates. Lay chicken and peaches on top of spinach in an alternating circular pattern. Top with blueberries, pecans, and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle dressing on top and serve.