Sweet Potato Chicken Salad

This past week we have had some lighter meals since my husband is very nervous for his law school finals coming up. This salad is great on a spring day and could probably feed 4. We ended up throwing out quite a bit since salad does not make good left overs. It is served with the chicken, asparagus and sweet potatoes still warm. Not a lot of recipes get made more then once in our home and this one I have now made twice so it must deserve a spot on this web site. I would probably give it 4 STARS, my husband is too busy to rate so he will just have to go with it :)

1 lb Sweet potato or yam
Sprinkle of Salt and Pepper
2 tbsp Olive or cooking oil
1 lb Boneless, skinless, chicken breast
1 lb Fresh asparagus
4 cups Fresh spinach leaves

Dressing
1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
4 tbsp Olive or cooking oil
2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp Dried basil

3 Tbsp Pine nuts (optional, I just used them because I had them)

Preheat oven to 475F. Peal sweet potato and cut into 1/2 inch squares. Toss with 1 tbsp of olive oil and spread evenly on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 min, flipping once, until sweet potato is tender and golden.

While sweet potatoes are baking, cut chicken into 3/4 inch pieces and asparagus into 1 inch pieces. Heat remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add chicken and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown. Add asparagus. Cook for about another 5 minutes until asparagus in tender and chicken is no longer pink inside. You may need to cover the frying pan and allow the mixture to steam for a few minutes depending on how crispy you like your asparagus.

Dressing: Combine all 4 ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. If you do not have a jar, just mix well in a small bowl.

Put spinach into a large salad bowl. Add chicken mixture and sweet potatoes. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.

MAKE IT A MEAL: I served this salad with warm focaccia bread which we dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This is our favorite way to eat bread with our meals. If you are a simple roll with butter type of family, that would be good with this meal too.