Everything is Seasonal

April in Georgia means strawberry season is in full swing and we can’t get enough of them in the Orr house! Today I’m sharing with you two of my go-to strawberry recipes, a Strawberry Avocado Chicken Salad and a heavenly, Gluten-Free Strawberry & Oats Bake.

I had high hopes of making it to one of our local strawberry fields for a photoshoot of my daughter and I picking strawberries but alas, that is not how the last few weeks have played out. We’ve been busy bees, with lots of catering, long days in the kitchen and rainy days that delayed every opportunity we had. Factor in our soon-to-be three year-old’s schedule and big feelings and you may say this was inevitable.

So, today we are working with Georgia strawberries that have come straight from the next best thing- Kroger.

And I’m okay with it!

My life is in a season that is pretty fast-paced and I am learning to lean into it and roll with the punches. It’s pretty on brand for the recipes today. Simple, healthy, quick, minimal. This is the first time I have put these to paper but they’re both staples for me in busy seasons.

First up, is this Strawberry Avocado Chicken Salad.

With the avocado, strawberries and basil, this thing just screams fresh! If you know me at all, you know I love a good chicken salad and I love mayonnaise even more! BUT my two best friends just happen to hate mayonnaise (honestly, I’m not sure what planet they’re from, ha!) and since I like to share, this recipe was created without mayo! The binder for this chicken salad is olive oil and a good balsamic vinegar!

Strawberry Avocado Chicken Salad

1 ripe avocado

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/4 cup red onion

5 leaves of basil

2 chicken breasts, fully cooked

1/2 Persian cucumber, seeded

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

First, choose your chicken breast cooking method. Most of the time this looks like roasting at 350 degrees until the chicken breast is at least 165 degrees in the center. It's hard to mess this part up. You can opt for boiling the chicken or grabbing a quick rotisserie chicken and removing the white meat. Your choice!

Cube your chicken breast into 1/2 inch bites and toss in a large mixing bowl. Cube your avocado and scoop into your bowl.
Cut your cucumber long ways and remove the seeds, then thinly slice your cucumbers and add to the bowl.

Pro-Tip: You don’t need anything fancy to deseed a cucumber! A spoon works perfectly fine.

Thinly slice your red onion. Slice approximately 10-12 small strawberries and add. Chiffonade your basil into thin ribbons.

Drizzle both your balsamic and olive oil and sprinkle your desired salt and pepper.

I like to mix this chicken salad with my hands. No better tool in the kitchen! I think this allows the avocado and oil and vinegar to mix well and to coat all other ingredients. I like to stick a fork straight into the mixing bowl, but you can serve this chicken salad over arugula or in lettuce cups!

This Oat bake is the perfect dish for when I am craving a little something sweet but don’t want to feel sluggish after. It can double as an oatmeal breakfast of sorts for busy mornings and you can always change the fruit to what is seasonally available! Try it sometime and let me know what you think!

GF Strawberry & Oats Bake

3 cups of gluten free oats

1 cup tapioca flour

3/4 cup butter (or coconut oil for a dairy free)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup coconut sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 pint of fresh strawberries

First slice or rough chop your strawberries and add to a bowl, add 1/2 a cup of coconut sugar and reserve the rest. Add 1 tablespoon of tapioca flour and reserve the rest. Toss and let sit.

In another bowl, combine gluten free oats, cinnamon, tapioca flour, coconut sugar, salt and softened butter (or coconut oil) in a mixing bowl. Mix with hands or wooden spoon until it forms a crumbly texture. Reserve one cup of the crumb mixture to the side - and press the remaining mixture into a 9x12 baking dish. Press firmly and evenly. Then add your strawberry mixture on top spreading evening.