Poached Chicken with Strawberries, Goat Cheese and Savory Blueberry Vinagrette

Recently, I've been reviewing food products for wellfed.net. I first had some chocolate covered sunflower seeds and almonds from a company called Translucent Chocolates. Tasty but it didn't really challenge my culinary creativity. This week I got a batch of TrueBlue Blueberry Juice.

The first thing I did with it was make a mixer of course. What else do you do with blueberry juice? It was great with raspberry vodka and a splash of lime juice over ice. My boyfriend, Will, also tried it with some mango rum, and he seemed quite content with that mixture as well, 9though this was admittedly after a glass of wine with dinner and his own raspberry vodka blueberry juice cocktail). Our questionable drinking habits aside, this food blog is about maintaining a healthy balance, and so perhaps to balance out last night's indulgences, perhaps to do a full, proper,and sober product review, or perhaps not to let my gym time go completely in vain, I decided to try the Savory Blueberry Vinagrette recipe from the TrueBlueberry juice website.

They have many recipes posted and essentially you can substitute blueberry juice for anywhere that you would use cranberry juice or even pomegranate juice. It boasts more antioxidants per serving than cranberry juice and also claims to have 25% less calories than the leading cranberry juices. This is not even considering the TrueBlue Lite Blueberry Juice, which I would love to try. I'll post more on the health benefits of blueberry juice at a later date, but for the time being I'll let you know that the savory blueberry vinagrette was just that - savory. Perhaps not as much tangy blueberry flavor as I would have liked, but it was the perfect compliment to our poached chicken strawberry and goat cheese salad, and of course, a slightly sweet and spicy Cabernet.



Poached Chicken Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Savory Blueberry Vinagrette

Salad:
Mixed Salad Greens
chicken breast, poached and shredded *
Sliced strawberries
Goat Cheese crumbles,
Walnuts, chopped and toasted *


Savory Blueberry Vinagrette from TrueBlue Blueberry Juice

1/2 cup TrueBlue Blueberry Cocktail 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 tsp dijon mustard 1/2 tsp dried basil (I didn't have this so I added some dried oregano and parsley to taste) ground pepper to taste Whisk ingredients together and let sit for a few minutes to let flavors blend. Shake well before serving. Makes 1 3/4 cups.

* It's very easy to poach chicken breasts and it is a healthy way to cook chicken and retain its juices. Place the chicken breasts in a skillet or saucepan and add enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool. Shred into bite-size strips with two forks.

* Toasting walnuts brings out their strong flavor and you can use less them of them as a result. You'll find a little goes a long way. I highly recommend not skipping this step. To toast walnuts, place them in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently and remove from heat once the nuts turn a slight brown hue, about 3-4 minutes, and you can begin to smell their aroma. To crush, place in a small plastic bag to avoid a mess and pound with a flat object.