Strawberry Chicken Salad

Kayla told me something this week that made me put both hands flat on the kitchen table and breathe. She and Devon are talking about starting a family. Not trying yet — talking. The kind of talking that young married couples do when the wedding is six months old and the house is settled and the question of children moves from "someday" to "when." She said it carefully, the way you say important things in a kitchen — over tea, with your hands wrapped around the mug, looking at the table instead of at the person you're telling.

"Granny, we're not in a rush," she said. "We want to be ready." I said, "Baby, nobody is ready. You just decide and then you become ready." She smiled. She knows I'm right. She also knows that I became a mother at twenty-one and had four children by twenty-nine and none of it was planned and all of it was everything. Readiness is an illusion. Love is the reality. The baby comes and the readiness follows, the way the sunrise follows the dark — not because you planned it but because that's how life works.

I thought about Michael. I always think about Michael when Kayla talks about children, because Kayla is Michael's daughter, and any child Kayla has will carry Michael's blood, and Michael's blood will run in a body that Michael never held, and the love will be a bridge across the absence. A grandchild of my grandchild. A great-great-grandchild. The thought is so large I can't hold it in my head — I have to hold it in my chest, the way you hold things that are too important for thinking and can only be felt.

Devon came for Sunday dinner. He ate three helpings of greens, which is his standard, and he looked at Kayla across the table with the face of a man who is ready even if he says he isn't, and I looked at them both and I thought: the table is going to get longer. The family is going to get bigger. The food is going to multiply. And I am going to be here for it, on two working knees, with Hattie Pearl's skillet and Earl's blessing and the stubbornness of a woman who refuses to leave before the story is finished.

Made chicken and rice tonight. The simple version. One pot. The way Hattie Pearl made it when there were six children and not much money and the rice stretched the chicken and the chicken flavored the rice and the love made it enough. One pot. One family. One future, arriving.

Now go on and feed somebody.

Hattie Pearl’s one-pot chicken and rice will always be my Sunday anchor — it fed six children on not much money and it will feed my grandchildren’s children someday, God willing. But when I thought about Kayla and Devon and that future arriving, I wanted something bright alongside it, something that says the table is not just longer but joyful. This Strawberry Chicken Salad is the recipe I’ll be ready with when new faces start showing up — fresh and generous and sweet enough to match the feeling of a family that refuses to stop growing.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 cups baby spinach or mixed greens
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup candied or toasted pecans
1/4 cup poppy seed dressing (or balsamic vinaigrette)

Instructions

Season the chicken. Pat chicken breasts dry. Brush with olive oil and season both sides with garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
Grill or pan-sear. Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 6–7 minutes per side, until cooked through and internal temperature reads 165°F. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.
Slice the chicken. Cut chicken against the grain into thin strips or bite-sized pieces.
Build the salad. Arrange greens in a large serving bowl or platter. Top with sliced strawberries, red onion, feta, and pecans.
Add the chicken. Lay the warm or room-temperature chicken slices over the salad.
Dress and serve. Drizzle with poppy seed dressing just before serving. Toss gently or serve as-is and let everyone dress their own plate.

Nutrition (per serving)

Strawberry Chicken Salad — For a Table That Keeps Getting Longer