Sunday Lunch!

I made a delicious lunch today, so thought I’d share!  I don’t usually go all out for lunch, but we were having my mother-in-law, Linda, and her lovely mate, Alois, for a visit, so I thought I’d prepare something yummy.

On the menu was Avocado Chicken Salad on bakery fresh bread and a Pear, Blue Cheese and Candied Pecan Salad with Pear Vinaigrette.

I’m having a bit of a love affair with avocados lately and the Avocado Chicken Salad is becoming my new favourite thing.  I borrowed the recipe from the blog Becoming Betty and it's so simple to prepare.  Quantities aren’t specified, but you’ll basically need some cooked chicken breast, the juice of one lime (give or take), fresh chopped cilantro, an avocado, S and P, green onion (optional - have made it with and without) and a dollop of mayo.  It’s really filling and is best served as an open-faced sandwich.  

Hubs picked up a fabulous fresh loaf of bread from De La Terre Bakery’s stall at the Hamilton Farmer’s Market to have with the chicken salad.  This bakery is amazing.  He also texted me while he was there asking if I’d like one of their date squares.  Um, yes please!  They are to DIE FOR.  So are their cookies.  And muffins.  And cinnamon sticky buns.  I could go on… And the best part is, they make lots of gluten-free products and everything is organic!  Score!

I have a confession to make.  I’m cheating on avocado with blue cheese.  My love affair with this smelly delight is going strong.  A little goes a long way and it sure makes a salad complete!  I also recently tried making candied pecans and now I’m loving those too.  So simple.  Just melt some sugar on the stove top, toss in the nuts, get them out *quickly* with a fork and put them on parchment.  Oh, and parchment and waxed paper are two VERY different things.  ‘Nuff said. 

We received some pears in our Plan B Organic Farms CSA share this week and in the newsletter that comes by email there was a recipe for Pear Vinaigrette.  It sounded like the perfect accompaniment to my salad, so I whipped some up in my Baby Bullet.  Oh my, I may have never tasted a better salad dressing!  And I digress, but that little blender is fantastic and I use it for a lot more than just baby food - thanks Dad!  I also got to use my fancy-shmancy new salad dressing mixer-pourer-storing thing that I got for my birthday – thanks Mom!  

Like I said, lunch isn’t usually such an elaborate affair in our house, but I had fun making it and it was great to share with my family!