Chicken Salad With Berries And Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing

Active time: 35 minutes | Total time: 40 minutes 4 servings

FOR THE DRESSING

2 scallions

1⁄2 cup neutral oil, such as grapeseed, safflower or canola

oil

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons) 2 tablespoons honey or agave, plus more to taste 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, plus more to taste

1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to

taste

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

FOR THE SALAD

8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, or 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast from a rotisserie chicken

1⁄8 teaspoon kosher salt

1⁄8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1⁄4 cup raw sunflower seeds

6 cups torn romaine lettuce hearts

6 cups torn bibb lettuce leaves

1 cup thinly sliced fennel

1⁄2 cup fresh blueberries

Make the dressing: Coarsely chop the light green and white parts of the scallions and set aside the dark green parts. In the pitcher of a blender, combine the oil, lemon juice, honey, scallions, lemon zest, mustard, salt and pepper with the chopped scallions and blend until smooth. Taste, and add more honey, mustard, salt and/or pepper, if desired. Stir in the poppy seeds. You should get about 1 cup of dressing.

Make the salad: If using uncooked chicken, place it between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound it to an even

thickness. Transfer to a deep skillet and add enough water to cover the chicken by about 1 inch. Set the skillet over medium-high heat until the water comes to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to its lowest level, cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, with an internal temperature of 165 degrees, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool slightly, then using your fingers or two forks, shred the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or refrigerate until needed.

In a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast the sunflower seeds, stirring frequently, until fragrant and a shade darker, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl.

When ready to serve, thinly slice the reserved scallion greens. In a large bowl toss the lettuces, fennel and shredded chicken with half of the dressing (about cup). Divide among the serving plates and top with the blueberries, toasted sunflower seeds and scallion greens.

Nutrition per serving (scant 4 cups salad and 2 tablespoons dressing) | Calories: 297; Total Fat: 20 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Cholesterol: 36 mg; Sodium: 209 mg; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Dietary Fiber: 5 g; Sugar: 9 g; Protein: 16 g

Tom McCorkle/For The Washington Post Sweet blueberries, a crunch of toasted sunflower seeds and scallion greens are scattered on top of this chicken salad dish.