lemon basil chicken salad

Our Sunday started early with Woody (our dog) waking us at about 7am. We weren't too bothered by this because we were too excited to get our day started. It's always so much easier to hop out of bed when the weather's nice and you have something to look forward to; we had plans to meet our friends, Jerel & Nicole at Morgan Farm in Ashland for a picnic.

Brad headed to the dog park with Woody to get him nice and exercised so we didn't feel guilty about leaving him home on such a nice day, while I stayed home to finish a few last things for our picnic. I had already prepared almost everything we needed on Saturday, so I just had to make pitas for the chicken salad and pack up the picnic basket and we were all set to go. Brad arrived home around 10:30 (with a worn out dog!) and we hopped in the car and started off on our journey.

We were the first guests to arrive when we pulled up the dirt drive at noon. Annette & Dan, the owners of the farm, were nothing but the best of hosts, welcoming us to help get the grills fired up and offering us cool beverages and "local" donuts.

While the grills warmed up, we wandered around the farm checking out Dan's vermicomposting and seeing his flower and herb gardens. My favorite by far though was getting to visit with the goats! They had 2 baby goats and 3 adult (Wendy, Betty & Wilma). I fell in love with these creatures...hmm...I wonder if our landlord would mind if we had one...

By this time we were starving and settled down on the lawn for our picnic. We feasted on artichoke tortellini salad, caprese salad & raspberry buttermilk cake that Nicole made and lemon basil chicken salad, fresh whole wheat pitas and a cilantro black bean salad that I made. It was so delicious I think Nicole and I even impressed ourselves.

It was such a relaxing day, such a great way to celebrate the long weekend. We're super excited for what the rest of this summer has in store for us.

Lemon Basil Chicken Salad
5 chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
1/2 C chopped red onions
1 C sugar snap peas, cut in half
1/2 C fresh basil, chopped
1/2 C mayonaisse
1/2 C plain yogurt
1/4 C lemon juice
1 T lemon zest
salt & pepper

Poach the chicken breast for 10 minutes in a saucepan 3/4 full of boiling water. Remove cooked chicken from liquid and let cool until comfortable enough to handle. Discard the water.

Cut the cooked chicken in 1-inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the red onions, snow peas and basil leaves. Combine the mayo, yogurt, lemon juice and zest; stir to blend.

Pour over the chicken mixture and mix gently but thoroughly with wooden spoon. Refrigerate until use.

recipe adapted from Taste of the Earth cookbook