Berry Almond Salad with Chicken

You may or may not know about the new berry salad they have at Wendy’s. I don’t make a habit out of frequenting fast food joints, but during the last four weeks of the school year I felt like they knew me by name at Wendy’s.

My daughter had hours and hours of dance rehearsals. On top of that mix in one kid in band and one kid in orchestra with end of year concerts. Swim meets, school dances, clubs, oh my! I swear I pack in more stress, errands, and running around in June than I do the entire rest of the year. I barely had enough time to eat dinner, let alone make it myself.

So here we are, finally in the first week of summer vacation. There’s no telling when I will be done with this (done!) and ready for school to start back up. For now I will bask in the glory of little to no responsibilities.

And little to no fast food restaurants.

The one thing I really would have missed is this salad, however, so I went ahead and figured out how to make it myself.

I ordered this salad begrudgingly at Wendy’s and I had low (very low) expectations for it. Fruit and chicken on a “mixed green” salad from a fast food restaurant? I imagined mushy blueberries, sour strawberries, and gristly chicken on half brown iceberg lettuce.

Maybe I should cut Dave and Wendy some slack! The salad was actually delicious with super fresh fruit, mesclun greens, and real chicken breast. Um, it was really good. So good that I ordered it twice a week for four weeks.

As good as it was, there’s no need to run out to the drive-thru when this salad is so easy to make on your own. The dressing consists of four ingredients shaken together and the salad doesn’t even require a recipe. Just mix together the greens, toppings, and dressing. Fast, healthy food from your our kitchen. Now that’s better.

Sorry, Dave.