Immaculate Conception Salad

This heavenly salad gets its name because it was conceived of by my mom, Mary, and because it manages to combine something from EVERY FOOD GROUP (when served with a hunk of whole-grain bread) in the most delicious way possible. Remember that cereal that tried to pull off the same feat, Basic 4? Yeah...it's alot better than that. And because it is basically a food pyramid in salad form, it boasts a wide variety of nutrients: protein from the chicken, calcium from the feta, vitamin A & fiber from the dark leafy greens, vitamin E and minerals (like iron & magnesium) from the pine nuts, and tons of vitamin C from the orange & sweet potato. Vegetarians could try substituting soy protein for the chicken; if you feel like trying a veg version of this salad, let me know how it turns out!

You can easily come home from work and prepare this salad in less than 30 minutes. It's the kind of thing I'd suggest making in a giant batch, because believe me, you're gonna want leftovers. The recipe below makes about four servings.

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 large sweet potatoes, coarsely chopped

2 oranges, coarsely chopped

1 cup crumbled feta

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 bags (about 8 cups) dark salad greens

a little salt & pepper and olive oil for cooking

your favourite fruity vinaigrette (i LOVE Annie's papaya poppyseed!)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees while you chop the sweet potatoes. Spread the bite-size pieces onto a baking sheet, drizzle with a Tbsp. of olive oil, and rub them around to cover all sides. Grind or sprinkle salt and pepper over the sweet potato, and pop them into the oven for about 20 minutes.

2. Pour another tsp. of olive oil into a frying pan, and get the chicken going. Add a little salt and pepper while they cook.

3. Wrap a whole-grain baguette tightly in foil and pop it into the oven to warm. Check on the sweet potatoes, giving them a little stir with your spatula.

4. Wash and dry the greens and chop the oranges. Throw them into a bowl or onto a plate and sprinkle each serving with 1/4 cup of crumbled feta.

5. When the chicken is done, transfer it to a cutting board and cut it into bite size pieces (or serve it in breast-form for if you'd rather.) Throw the pine nuts into the frying pan and toast over medium-low heat, stirring. This only takes a minute or two and totally transforms the flavour of the pine nuts!

6. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and add everything to your salad. Drizzle with vinaigrette, and say a Hail Mary. 

p.s. thanks to my roommate seth for taking a great picture!