Strawberry and Balsamic Grilled Chicken Salad

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a fun filled couple of days in Monterey California for a summit put on by Dole where we learned more about where our salads come from and how they make to our tables. While we were there we got to eat some tasty food including a lot of salads which got me thinking about salads. As luck would have it May is also the National Salad Month so it was about time that I got down to making some salads!

If you are interested in seeing the photos that I took while in beautiful Monterey California you can check out the gallery here: Monterey California Photo Gallery

One of the things that I like about salads is there versatility in the fact that they can be anything from a side dish to a complete meal and on hot summer days I often like to go for a light, cool and refreshing salad a for a meal. With Spring well on its way now strawberries are everywhere and since I always enjoy a nice strawberry salad I figured that one would be a perfect way to celebrate the national salad month! One of the easiest ways to turn a salad into a light meal is to simply add meat and since I have been thinking about grilling more and more these days I was sure that adding some grilled chicken was the way to go. Just some simple grilled chicken would have been ok, why not take the opportunity to add some flavour by marinating the chicken in a balsamic vinaigrette ? For the lettuce in the salad I went with a combination baby spinach and arugula and I fleshed the salad out with some bacon, goat cheese and pecans. At first I was just going to go with a simple balsamic vinaigrette for the dressing but then inspiration struck and I decided that I would try adding some roasted strawberries to the balsamic vinaigrette to get even more strawberries goodness into the salad! What a great way to Springs bounty!