brianna's salad dressings have been my favorites for a while now, and we use them pretty exclusively. they recently went on sale 2/$5 at central market in poulsbo, so i stocked up, which means we've been adding lots of side salads alongside our regular meals as of late. this salad is pretty simple, not quite substantial enough to be a "house" salad, but due to it's simplicity and italian slant, i find it to be a perfect accompaniment to pizza!
we also like to apply a little trick i picked up in an article about why restaurant salads taste so much better than their homemade counterparts. yes, they taste better thanks to the usual suspects - higher sugar content in the dressings, being loaded up on unhealthy extras, etc. but there was one item that surprised me: restaurants salt their salads! while i wouldn't dream of cooking meat without seasoning, it definitely hadn't occurred to me to salt raw lettuce. we've been adding a pinch of seasoning to our salads ever since and it definitely elevates the final product.
| ingredients |
mixed greens
grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
red onion, finely diced
parmesan-ranch crutons
shaved parmesan cheese
salt, pepper to taste - (as a rule of thumb, about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper per half pound of greens)
dressing of choice - for this salad we like brianna’s italian vinaigrette
| method |
in a large bowl add a little bit of the dressing first - then the greens. toss greens in the dressing using a pair of tongs, until evenly coated. add the tomatoes, red onion, about 1/2 the parm and season to taste, tossing once more. add additional dressing as needed. top with the crutons and additional parmesan cheese.
(i usually add a minimal amount of dressing in the larger bowl and then add any extra on my plate.)
lemon chicken parmesan
this is a recipe i discovered pretty early on in our marriage, and it’s stuck around for the long haul. as an obsessive of breaded/pan seared/fried chicken this dinner feels substantial and is super flavorful, but includes greens and is still light enough that you won’t feel gross afterward. plus, once you have this down it’s multi functional - i use the same technique for traditional chicken parmesan as well, or homemade chicken tenders.
recipe adapted from ina garten
| ingredients |
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon of milk
1-1/4 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus additional for garnish
2-4 tbsp evoo
mixed greens
lemon salad dressing, we like this one by brianna’s
optional: lemon slice for garnish
| method |
heat oven to 250 degrees.
cut the chicken breasts in half, and if needed pound 1/4” thick.
combine the flour, salt, lemon zest and pepper on a dinner plate. in a pie plate beat the eggs with the milk. on another dinner plate combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. lay the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, covering every inch of both sides of the chicken. repeat with the milk and egg mixture, and then with the bread crumbs and parm mixture.
heat the evoo in a large sauté pan and cook 2 or 3 pieces of chicken on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. once complete, place on a baking sheet and let sit in the warm oven just until your remaining chicken is complete. add additional evoo to the pan as needed. once all of the chicken is cooked, plate each piece and add a mound of salad on top and drizzle lemon dressing over top, then garnish with additional parmesan cheese and a twist of lemon if you wish.
note: this is also delish served over pasta.