I was scrounging for lunch again yesterday … my body was so hungry for something good, delicious, healthy. My organic salad greens in the fridge were almost gone. There wasn’t much to be had in the fridge except some cut fruit and a bit of cheese.
But I ALWAYS have plenty of food in the freezer. AND I have a yard full of edibles! I went out and collected some wild violet and dandelion leaves, a bit of fresh basil, some Johnny Jump Ups (as my mom calls them … they are also known as Violas), cooked up a frozen chicken patty, toasted some pecans from the freezer and voila! I had a beautiful salad definitely worth jumping up for.
Jump Up Chicken Orange Salad with Feta and Pecans
- Greens (I used wild violet and dandelion greens)
- Cooked chicken, cut into chunks (I used a breaded chicken patty, but grilled chicken or even rotisserie chicken would work too)
- Orange, peeled and cut into small chunks
- Toasted pecans
- Crumbled feta cheese
- Viola flowers (Johnny Jump Ups … preferably from a source that isn’t sprayed with herbicides or pesticides)
- Fresh basil leaves
Fill your bowl most of the way with greens. Tuck in the chicken, orange pieces, sprinkle with pecans and feta. Add the flowers and the basil and drizzle with a pleasing vinaigrette. I used my Honey Lemon Ginger White Wine Vinaigrette, but I think the Tequila Lime Vinaigrette would be lovely on this salad too … I need to make some more of that beautiful dressing.
This recipe was shared at Cast Party Wednesdays, Fit & Fabulous Fridays, Fabulous Friday, Weekend Potluck, Mom’s Everyday Meals and Mealtime Monday and Delicious Dish Tuesday.
18 comments
When this pretty salad popped up on my computer screen I started singing “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” in my best Van Morrison voice 🙂 hee hee. xoxo. this is beautiful, per usual.
Wow a salad that makes you sing! That’s something special 🙂 … thank you so much Melissa! You made my day.
smoochees sweet Ann. I hope you have a lovely Mother’s Day weekend 🙂
You too my dear Melissa 🙂
What a beautiful spring salad! Can’t wait to try it!
SO pretty!!!
Thank you Lauren! 🙂
Beautiful, Ann! No doubt it was delicious too! 🙂
Well yes, it was! I wish I could have shared it with you Michele 🙂
Wow – one of the most beautiful salads I’d ever seen! Those violets are stunning and I had no idea you could eat them! I should probably pay more attention to the “weeds” growing in my yard, lol.
Thank you TIffany! Yes, all the members of the violet family are edible! Just be careful about what you spray your yard with if you want to use them as food.
Such a gorgeous salad!!! Love the violets!!!
Thank you Amee! 🙂
THIS looks amazing. I LOVE feta cheese and pecans on my salad. I have no idea where you get the greens you used, or the viola flowers though…?
Thanks for linking up a second delicious dish! 🙂
I picked the wild violet and dandelion greens from my yard! (although I don’t recommend that if you use any sort of chemicals on your lawn) … you can use other greens, if you don’t have them, though … And my mom gave me the violas … she has them growing in her yard. I’m planting them in my front yard along with the irises and daffodils so I will have violas every summer too.
Thank you for sharing this and other great recipes with Delicious Dish Tuesday. This salad sound great and looks beautiful! I am featuring it in this week’s Delicious Dish Tuesday as my favorite recipe from last week 🙂 http://copingwithfrugality.com/2012/05/delicious-dish-tuesday-baking-fish-in-foil.html
Gosh thank you so much Amanda! I’m so excited! Rushing right over to check it out …
[…] favorite recipe from last week was the Jump Up Chicken Orange Salad with Feta and Pecans. I have never grown edible flowers but the idea of eating something this beautiful has me […]