Summer Salad

This post is a little aside from the traditional here’s-your-recipe-laden-with-wine post. Instead, I want to review the Pomegranate OrangeVinaigrette I picked up at Willamette Valley Vineyards over Memorial Day weekend. In fact, I owe a lot of my love of wine to WVV. About this time four or five years ago was the first time I had every really participated in tasting wine. I was so lucky to have such an amazing experience at WVV during that tasting. I had walked in quite intimidated by wine and all aspects of wine--drinking wine, wine glasses (so breakable!), opening wine (a man must have invented this corkscrew thing!), simple wine, complex wine (a woman must have invented this!), the legs of wine (Do they wear flats or stilettos?) and so much more. After a few sips and some great conversation with the person behind the counter, I was inspired to see that wine was truly approachable and, in fact, inviting. I’m forever grateful that my mind and taste buds could be opened by this great experience at Willamette Valley Vineyards.

For me, a trip to the Oregon Coast is never complete without a side trip to WVV. Late in May, I was blessed to see, smell and taste WVV again! As I was stacking a few choice bottles next to the register, I noticed a rack of vinaigrettes and other kitchen delicacies. I’m a sucker for anything with pomegranate, so the Pomegranate Orange Vinaigrette was quickly added to my bill. Below is the salad recipe I used it on—DELICIOUS! This is a delicious and light summer salad, perfect for the big holiday tomorrow!

Lime-Honey Glazed Chicken Salad

6 tbsp honey

6 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tsp freshly grated lime zest

6 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tsp crushed red pepper

4 large chicken breasts

4-6 cups torn romaine lettuce

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cups mandarin oranges

Mix honey, soy sauce, lime zest, lime juice, and crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Add chicken pieces. Stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate 2-24 hours.

Once marinated, grill or cook chicken thoroughly. While chicken cooks, mix lettuce, cranberries and mandarin oranges. Remove from heat and cut chicken into bite sized pieces. You can choose to add it to the salad immediately or cool the chicken and add it to the salad mixture later. Either way, toss with Willamette Valley Vineyards pomegranate orange vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Chicken recipe adapted from EatingWell.com