15 in 3: Dinner 13 Chicken with Baked Sweet Potato and Summer Salad

Welcome to the thirteenth installment of 15 in 3!  This is the place I am sharing my 15 favorite dinners over the next 3 weeks.  Stay tuned for easy homemade dinner recipes containing lots of whole foods, minimal processed ingredients, and straight forward recipes with everyday healthy ingredients.  Some posts will contain bonus breakfast and snack ideas.  Happy cooking!

Dinner 13: Grilled Chicken Breast with Baked Sweet Potato and Summer Salad

This was yummy!  Also -I'm surprised- now that I've mostly quit eating dessert THIS SALAD tasted like to dessert to me.  I'm not even kidding.  I think Husband almost choked on his chicken!  This cake and brownie and cooking loving girl just said salad tasted like dessert.  What is going on here?

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken breast (Works well with 2 large breasts trimmed and sliced horizontally through the center to create four thinner, approximately 4 oz. pieces.)

To taste, Mrs. Dash Chicken Grilling Blends and garlic salt

1 T. olive oil

4 sweet potatoes

4 T. real maple syrup

2 T. butter

4 c. spinach

2 small to medium apples, cored and chopped

12 strawberries, hulled and sliced

4 T. pecans, chopped

4 T. poppyseed dressing (I love Brianna's)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Wash sweet potatoes and poke a few holes in them; wrap with foil.  Bake in oven for 60-75 minutes or until soft in center.

2.  When potatoes have about 15 minutes remaining, pour olive oil in large flat-bottomed nonstick skillet.  Add chicken, sprinkle lightly with seasonings, turn heat to medium.  Cook each side about 5-7 minutes, flipping as necessary to prevent burning.  When lightly golden brown, turn off heat and cover tightly with lid until done (turn to low if you need a bit more heat).

3.  Prepare salads.  Unwrap potatoes, cut end-to-end through center, top with 1 T. syrup and 1/2 T. butter each, and mash.  Add chicken to plates and serve.  Enjoy!

Serves four.  Calories per serving: 591.  I think this would have been delicious even with no syrup and butter on the sweet potato, which would bring the calories down to 496.  It was a sweeter meal than I anticipated, which is probably why it tasted like dessert!