This looks good and easy. Rice, Chicken and Artichoke Salad (Family Circle) Dressing: 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/8 teaspoon each salt and black pepper 1/3 cup vegetable oil Salad: 1 can(13.5 ounces) artichoke hearts in water, drained, rinsed, patted dry and quartered 2 cups cold cooked brown rice (made from 2/3 cup raw rice) 2 cups cut-up, cooked chicken breast 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce 1 small red pepper, cored, seeded and chopped 1 scallion, trimmed and chopped 3 tablespoons fresh parsley or alfalfa sprouts 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Dressing: In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine vinegar, scallion, ginger, mustard, salt and pepper. While whisking, add oil in a thin stream, beating until well blended. 2. Salad: In a large bowl, combine artichoke hearts, brown rice, chicken, barbecue sauce, red pepper, scallion and parsley or sprouts. Stir gently to combine. Add dressing, salt and pepper and stir to blend. Serve cold or store in air-tight container in refrigerator.

I've been wanting to make this for a while, and last nite I did. My croutons got soggy, but other than that it was great. Maybe I didn't toast them enough, I'm not sure. It's originally Ina's recipe, but I was looking at this blog and used it from here. It calls for a little less dressing. It fed 4 of us, along with Pasta Puttanesca. Greek Panzanella (Gorging George blog) Adapted (only a little) from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten 1/4 cup olive oil 1 boule/loaf rustic bread, cut into 1-inch cubes) salt and pepper 1 English cucumber, halved, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick 1 red bell pepper, diced into large pieces 1 yellow bell pepper, diced into large pieces 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved 1/2 of a small red onion, thinly sliced 1/2 lb feta cheesed, diced into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved dressing 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dijon mustard Preheat oven to 400F. Toss bread with olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a baking pan and bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes until browned. Remove from oven and let cool. Combine remaining salad ingredients (minus dressing) in a large bowl and toss gently with your hands. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small canning jar (or any container you have with a very leakproof lid). Put the lid on and vigorously shake. Note: Ina (and many other cookbooks) suggest putting all the dressing ingredients; minus the oil into a small bowl and whisking together, then suggest you slowly add the oil and whisk away (while somehow magically keeping your small bowl steady) in order to create what's called an emulsion. But here's the secret: if you have mustard in your vinaigrette, it will do all the work for you, as long as you shake up your ingredients really well. Sure this isn't what you'd do to impress the chef if you were in culinary school-- but we're at home, why make things harder on yourself? Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients in the bowl, add the bread on top, then lightly toss the salad together. Let the salads flavours combine for 15-30 minutes before serving. This will allow the bread to soak up some of the dressing, while still staying crunchy. Here is a link that might be useful: Greek Panzanella

This looks so good! We really like quinoa and it's in my to-try binder. Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen 1 cup quinoa 1 sweet red pepper, quartered 1 sweet yellow pepper, quartered 1 zucchini, cut lengthwise in 1/2-inch thick strips 12 asparagus spears, trimmed 1/2 cup Light feta cheese, crumbled 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro Chipotle Vinaigrette: 3 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced 2 tsp liquid honey 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Soak quinoa in cold water for 3 minutes; drain in sieve. In saucepan, bring 1-1/2 cups salted water to boil; stir in quinoa and return to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until no liquid remains, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with fork; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Spread on small tray and let cool for 10 minutes. Chipotle Vinaigrette: Meanwhile, whisk together oil, vinegar, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, honey, cumin, salt and pepper. Set aside. In large bowl, toss together red and yellow peppers, zucchini, asparagus and 3 tbsp of the vinaigrette until coated. Place on greased grill over medium heat; close lid and grill until charred and tender, 4 to 6 minutes for asparagus, 10 to 12 minutes for peppers and zucchini. Cut into large chunks and return to bowl. Add remaining dressing, quinoa, half of the feta cheese, the pumpkin seeds and cilantro; stir until incorporated. Sprinkle with remaining feta. Serve immediately. Source: Canadian Living Magazine: June 2011

Spinach Salad with Chicken and Strawberries (Fine Cooking) 2 Tbs. plus 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-3/4 lb.), tenders removed Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup sliced almonds 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tsp. honey 1 medium shallot, minced 6 oz. loosely packed baby spinach leaves (about 6 cups) 8 oz. strawberries, stemmed and quartered (about 1-1/2 cups) 3 oz. crumbled blue cheese (about 3/4 cup) Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering hot. Pat the chicken dry and season with 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper. Cook, turning once, until just cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest, loosely covered with foil, for 5 minutes. While the chicken cooks, toast the almonds in a dry 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil with the vinegar, honey, shallot, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries, blue cheese, and almonds and toss with enough of the dressing to coat. Arrange the salad on a platter or plates. Slice the chicken and arrange on the salad, or on the side. Drizzle with some of the remaining vinaigrette, if desired, and serve.