A Salad for Sunday

Sundays are always a challenge when it comes to meal planning, I think. For us, the image of the family gathered around the table for a big Sunday dinner of a roast and all the fixings just doesn’t work. (I remember meals like that as a kid, but my mother always stayed home from church to do it.) My hubby and I both teach Sunday School and must leave the house by 9 a.m. We then attend the morning service at ll, and often it is 12:30 or 12:45 before we arrive home -- usually very hungry!

Almost always, I plan a crockpot meal for Sunday lunch. Occasionally we eat lunch out, and sometimes there are leftovers to use up. Once in awhile I plan a meal that can just be put together quickly at the last minute. That was the case yesterday. The main-dish salad I made turned out so good, I thought others might like the recipe too. To accompany the salad, we had Seven-Grain Bread left from Wednesday. Here’s the salad recipe:

RASPBERRY CHICKEN SALAD
6 cups bite-size pieces salad greens (I used the bagged stuff)
2 cups cut-up cooked chicken (I used leftover grilled chicken)
2 cups sliced peaches
1 medium stalk celery, sliced
2 medium green onions, sliced
1/2 cup raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing

Toss all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. (The recipe suggested topping the salad with some honey-roasted peanuts. I had thought of toasting some pecans, but decided not to take the time. We just sprinkled some cashews over our salads and they were good. I think adding nuts of some type to this is a good idea -- adds a bit more protein and makes it more filling.) Yield: 4 servings.

This recipe came from a 1998 Betty Crocker cookbook called “Speedy Summer Suppers.” I hadn’t used it too much because it seemed that most of the chicken recipes called for already-cooked chicken -- something I seldom have on hand. But this summer I’ve discovered a couple of handy ways to do so: 1) Cook a whole roasting chicken or 2 smaller chickens in the crockpot. Take all the meat off the bones and you have a large amount of cooked chicken to use in recipes. (Strain the leftover chicken broth and freeze for later use.) 2) Season a bunch of boneless chicken breasts as desired and grill them. Cube the meat or cut it in strips, then refrigerate or freeze to use in recipes.

Happy cooking!