I’ve been waiting patiently to share a fabulous summer salad I fell head over heels for on a recent trip to Las Vegas: Summer Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with White Balsamic Dressing. The time finally feels right with the past five weeks of clockwork snow storms behind us and our temperatures bypassing spring and heading straight for the dog days of high summer this week.
Over part of Spring Break we flew to Las Vegas for a multi-generational family gathering. We were a group of varied interests and abilities spanning a 70 year age spread! It was a perfect location for us, allowing everyone their own pace and usually meeting for a few fabulous meals and a show daily.
We stayed at the Mirage Hotel which is perhaps more kid-friendly and offers less opportunities for a mom to drape something swiftly over the innocent eyes of younger folk to shield view of some of the more colorful action passing by! My Sister in Law had artfully screened performances for age-appropriateness, dining venues for our gluten needs, suggested days of the week to dodge if I elected not to explain the term ‘lewd’ to my 10 year old. All aligned landing us in a bit of an out-of-body power vacation in one of the more surreal microcosms in the U.S.
We watched volcanoes erupt after dark at the Mirage. We took a gondola ride at the Venetian on the mock canals of Venice lit by an enchanting faux sky-scape, serenaded by the dulcet tones of our Italian-born Gondolier (much to the embarrassment of our teen daughter). We elevated to the top of the Eiffel Tower for a nighttime view of The Las Vegas Strip (the main drag of hotels) and a showing of the extravagantly choreographed fountains at the Bellagio. We saw Cirque de Soliel, the white tigers of Siegfried and Roy. We ate fabulous Kobe and Wagyu Beef, black truffle mashed potatoes and drank champagne and enjoyed each other’s company after too much time passing.
The sights and sounds were more than memorable (and the people-watching fascinating) but what made me feel like I was really on vacation was eating at the palm tree lined Paradise Café poolside at the Mirage, which we did for at least one meal a day. A gentle breeze was always blowing and though the temperature was not the usual blaze, the smell of sunscreen hung in the air and I did not need to wear my Ugg boots which qualified as ‘the tropics’ by my meager standards.
The first day we convened for lunch and I ordered the Summer Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad. It arrived in an extravagant asymmetric white melamine bowl fit for four (all the meals are ample in Vegas) perched on an edgy placemat, demonstrating the showmanship you’d expect in Las Vegas. It was eccentric, fresh and tasted like summer. The dressing was light with a balsamic tang but with a fresh twist. I knew it was the type of salad I’d crave all summer long. After you have a refreshing bite, I think you might too!
Summer Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad with White Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Chopped Salad:
- 2 cups Romaine Lettuce Hearts , chopped
- ½ cup fresh Tomatoes , chopped
- ½ cup Cucumber , peeled and chopped
- ¾ cup grilled or rotisserie Chicken , chilled and chopped
- ½ cup Focaccia Croutons*
- ¼ cup Feta Cheese , crumbled
Ingredients for the White Balsamic Dressing:
- ½ cup White Balsamic Vinegar
- ¼ cup Honey
- 1 ½ tsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp Shallots , finely diced
- ½ tsp fresh Garlic , finely minced
- 1/16 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/16 teaspoon ground White Pepper
- ¾ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Instructions
- To make salad:combine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, chicken, croutons and feta cheese in a large dining bowl. Toss to fully combine.
- To make White Balsamic Dressing:Combine all dressing ingredients into a jar with a sealed lid. Shake vigorously for 1-2 minutes until all ingredients are fully incorporated. If the honey settles, stir with a spoon, then seal jar and shake vigorously again.
- Drizzle desired amount of dressing onto salad (there will be a surplus to use on future salads).
Brooke Schweers says
Yum! Looks beautiful and fresh and the dressings sounds divine! Thanx for sharing 🙂
Toni Dash says
Thank YOU Brooke! Hope you’ll give it a try.
Mr. & Mrs. P says
perfect springtime salad!!! Would love to make this for lunch!
Toni Dash says
Sadly by the time I post on my blog the dish is usually gone. It’s often like being taunted to remember how delicious it is and not have it in the refridgerator!
addie | culicurious says
Looks like a delicious salad. And the trip to Vegas looked really fun. 🙂 Sounds like y’all did it the right way!
Toni Dash says
Thanks Addie. We did have fun but I’d be lying were I not to admit there were jaw dropping moments. Las Vegas is its own place. BUT the salad was great as was much of the rest of the food we enjoyed there!
Colleen says
I’m impressed that the “surreal microcosm” of Las Vegas actually shared its white balsamic dressing with you! I love vinaigrettes of all kinds, and the ingredients for this one look really delicious. I’ll be trying it out tonight with some leftover grilled steak.
Also, I love that Bare Minerals is advertising here – it’s my favorite line of makeup, more of a lifestyle really; switching to it a few years ago was genuinely life changing. I had the chance to tell Leslie Blodgett so in person one time, in fact. She seemed pleased and immediately asked if I’d tried their perfumes! She’s such a great spokesperson for them.
Toni Dash says
I hope you’ll love the dressing as much as I do! We have a jar on the ready for any greens that meander our way.
I must give Martha Stewart credit for the good taste in ads! You have spoken about Bare Minerals before with great enthusiasm. It’s always great to find a product line you love.
Jerry | Simply Good Eating says
What’s not to love about a fresh salad with chicken and quality dressing on top? Great recipe and thanks for sharing this Toni!
Toni Dash says
I wholeheartedly agree, Jerry! Thank you for your kind remarks and for visiting!
Happy Valley Chow says
Your salad looks incredible, perfect summer dish! Can’t wait to try 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Toni Dash says
I agree Eric; it IS a perfect summer dish! Our temp’s almost hit 90 here today (after being the 30’s for the last month) and the only thing I could imagine eating would be a salad like this. Hope if you try it you will love it too!
Meeling says
Sounds delicious! And, yes, isn’t Vegas just a world of it’s own!!
Toni Dash says
Las Vegas really IS! A number of years ago some friends from Switzerland were coming to the U.S. for the first time. They picked a few mainstream cities and then said they would go to Las Vegas ‘for a real American experience’. I feverishly trie to explain it was not ‘typical’ or ‘ordinary’; secretly I feared they’d be scarred for life!
But then again it is a fantastic food town! This salad is a case in point!