I finally had time to read all of my Eating Well magazines since I have two weeks off from graduate school and had a couple of long flights to keep me entertained. This recipe comes from the magazine and let me just tell you it was scrumptious! Normally I don't do salads as a main course for dinner, but adding the farro in with the salad makes it more like a sweet and savory bowl rather than just a salad. And I knew that by adding that grain that Jon would find it more hearty as well and would therefore eat it up! The marinade the strawberries were in was the perfect dressing and went so well with all of the other ingredients. My final product did not have toasted pecans, but instead just regular chopped ones since I burned the first batch (don't let those suckers out of your sight for a second... they burn quickly!) and I didn't want to risk burning more. Second, the recipe calls for feta cheese which we didn't have. I think blue cheese would go so well with this though. Definitely a keeper. Yum!
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey ( I used maple syrup)
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
black pepper
salt
2 cups halved strawberries
2 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast cutlets
paprika
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
3 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
feta cheese, crumbled
Directions:
1) Combine 1 tablespoon oil, the vinegar, honey, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl and stir with a whisk. Add 1 cup strawberries, tossing to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, cook farro according to package directions.
3) Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chicken with remaining 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle evenly with pepper, salt, and paprika. Coat pan with oil or cooking spray. Add chicken to pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove and let stand for 5 minutes.
4) Divide farro, spinach, 1 cup strawberries and onion between 2 plates or bowls. Top evenly with chicken and strawberry-balsamic mixture. Top each serving with pecans and cheese.
