Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad ...p33

What's not to love about a salad that combines mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, bleu cheese and romaine with chunks of warm pecan crusted chicken?  Family loved it, the critic loved it, but truth be told, with all those yummy ingredients, I found it confusingly lacking something.  Maybe just the need for someone else to cook it.  You know how food always tastes better when someone else cooks it?  So why else would there be restaurants?

Or....... maybe the missing ingredient was my zing.....  I'm missing my kitchen partner.  You know who you are!

Exciting news:  my sunflower has blossomed and my, what a seedhead!  The seed catalog said the stalk would be a 10-footer, and, true to form, mine measures in at 115 inches (just shy of 10 ft.).  If you haven't followed its growth, take a look at my previous post.  I don't know much about TALL sunflowers so when the head started to droop, I assumed it was mimicking my own behavior as our zing flew the coop.

Make this chicken salad yourself; or better yet, have someone else make it for you,  then tell me what you think.

Hardy Appetit!

PECAN CRUSTED CHICKEN SALAD

1 cup creamy garlic salad dressing
1 cup finely chopped pecans
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into 1/2" strips
1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup dried cranberries
4 oz. bleu cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup Ranch dressing

Preheat oven to 400°.  Place the creamy garlic dressing and pecans in separate bowls.  Dip each chicken breast in the dressing, then into the pecans to coat.  Arrange chicken on a baking sheet.  Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until juices run clear.  Cool slightly, and cut into strips.  On serving plates, arrange equal amounts of lettuce, mandarin oranges, cranberries, bleu cheese.  Top with chicken and serve with Ranch dressing.