California Walnuts | Essential Food for Health

Ingredients

Marinade and Dressing:
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup Dry Red Wine
2 tablespoon Orange Juice Concentrate, thawed
1 tablespoon Honey
1/2 teaspoon Dried Basil Leaves
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Dried Apricots, finely chopped

2-3 Boneless, Skinless Split Chicken Breasts, (about 1 lb.)cut into 1/2 x 2-inch strips

Garlic Peppered Walnuts:
1 tablespoon Cracked Black Peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
2/3 cup Coarsely Broken California Walnuts
1 Egg White, slightly beaten

Melted Onion Topping:
2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup Thinly sliced Red Onion
1 cup Thinly sliced Sweet Onion (i.e., Vidalia, Mayan, Texas Sweet, etc.)

Other Salad Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cup Arugula Leaves
4 cup Fresh Spinach, torn
4 ounces Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled
1 Navel Orange, peeled and segmented
2 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Basil

Directions

For marinade and dressing: in a small bowl, mix together olive oil, wine, orange juice concentrate, basil, garlic powder and apricots. Reserve 1/2 cup for dressing.
Mix the remainder of marinade with chicken strips and marinate in refrigerator for at 1 hour, turning occasionally.
For Garlic-Peppered Walnuts: Heat oven to 350º F. In a closable plastic bag, mix together black peppercorns and garlic powder. Coat walnuts with egg white and place in plastic bag. Shake to coat with peppercorn mixture. Place on a baking sheet. Bake in 350º oven for 10 minutes, turning half way through baking. Cool and set aside.
For Melted Onion Topping, heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Sauté onions in hot oil for 8-10 minutes until beginning to caramelize. Transfer to another dish and keep warm.

To Prepare Salad: Wipe out skillet and heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Drain chicken strips and cook in oil until no longer pink and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together arugula leaves and spinach. Portion out about 1 1/2 cups mixture per serving on each of 4 serving plates. Divide chicken strips, crumbled Gorgonzola and onion topping among servings. Sprinkle each with garlic-peppered walnuts and garnish with orange segments. Spoon 2 tablespoons reserved dressing over each serving. Sprinkle each with chopped basil.