Chicken Salad With Berries and Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing

Step 1

1 Make the dressing: Coarsely chop the light green and white parts of the scallions and set aside the dark green parts

Step 2

2 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

Step 3

3 Taste, and add more honey, mustard, salt and/or pepper, if desired

Step 4

4 Stir in the poppy seeds

Step 5

5 You should get about 1 cup of dressing

Step 6

6 Make the salad: If using uncooked chicken, place it between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound it to an even 3/4-inch thickness

Step 7

7 Transfer to a deep skillet and add enough water to cover the chicken by about 1 inch

Step 8

8 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

Step 9

9 Let cool slightly, then using your fingers or two forks, shred the chicken and season with salt and pepper

Step 10

10 Use immediately or refrigerate until needed

Step 11

11 In a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast the sunflower seeds, stirring frequently, until fragrant and a shade darker, about 3 minutes

Step 12

12 Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl

Step 13

13 When ready to serve, thinly slice the reserved scallion greens

Step 14

14 In a large bowl toss the lettuces, fennel and shredded chicken with half of the dressing (about 1/2 cup)

Step 15

15 Divide among the serving plates and top with the blueberries, toasted sunflower seeds and scallion greens