The Adventures of Andrew: 4-H

ONE day I went to a clover kid meeting. Clover Kids is a group of younger 4-H'ers ages 5-7. Since I'm 8, I'm not a Clover Kid anymore, but I was asked to give a speech/demonstration to the Clover Kids.
My speech was on the Food Show. I taught about what you do and say in the Food Show. At the Food Show, you don't give a demo on your dish but I decided to tell the kids how to make my salad because I thought it would be fun for them to see it.Well lets get to it, you probably want the recipe and you want to know what it is called so I've listed it below.

Start with the toasted almonds. Just melt down a tablespoon of butter, add the sliced almonds and sugar, and cook over medium-high heat until they have lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. They'll start smelling really good when they're done; that's how you can know when to take them off the heat.

Once you've got the almonds done, go ahead and start the chicken on the grill. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the dressing. Minced onion, apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, sesame seeds, paprika, sugar, and olive oil!We like to use purple onion. After you've got the dressing mixed up, slice the strawberries and set aside. Slice up the chicken and get a nice little assembly line ready.

For each salad, just plate up some spinach, strawberries, almonds, chicken, and feta cheese. Drizzle it all with as much dressing as you like, and dig in!

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Chicken

Servings/Yield

4 entree servings, 8 side dish servings

For the almonds

1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon sugar

For the salad

1 bag baby spinach leaves
1 quart strawberries
4-oz. crumbled feta cheese
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt & pepper

For the dressing

¼ cup finely minced sweet onion
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
pinch paprika
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method

For the almonds, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the almonds and sugar, and cook, stirring occasionally until toasted and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. For dressing, combine all ingredients in a jar or sealed container; shake vigorously to combine. To prepare the salads, grill the chicken. Season chicken breast with salt and pepper and grill over medium-high heat until done. (Alternately, you could cook on an indoor griddle or on the stove.) Wash strawberries and cut into thin slices. To assemble, place baby spinach leaves on plate. Top with grilled chicken pieces, sliced strawberries, toasted almonds, and crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle with dressing, and serve!