Spring Salad and Wine Pairing

Let me introduce you to your new favorite spring salad and wine pairing!

RECIPE 
(It’s a variation of the Spring Chicken Panzanella Salad from @delish)

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (I buy a bunch from Costco and freeze bags of shredded chicken for use throughout the month, @shelbyrclemons gave me that tip!)
• 1 (5oz) bag mixed greens
• 1 bundle asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into thirds
• 2-3 handfuls of snap peas, cut into bite size pieces
• 4-6 pieces of country white bread
• 4oz fresh honey infused chevre (or your favorite kind of soft goat cheese) cut into small pieces
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
• Olive oil, Italian seasoning, and salt for cooking

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. wild raspberry balsamic vinegar (or any other balsamic vinegar you enjoy)
• 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. 
2. Cut the bread slices into crouton sized cubes and throw them in a large bowl with a generous amount of olive oil and Italian seasoning. Add a couple pinches of salt and mix. Place your homemade croutons on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
3. Use the same bowl to coat your asparagus pieces in olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Place these on a baking sheet and bake for 8ish minutes.
4. While those cook, prepare your dressing. Mix all the ingredients together, whisking well to combine the vinegar and oil. 
5. Put your chicken in the bowl you used for the bread and asparagus. Add about 1/4 of your dressing into the bowl and mix. 
6. Then add all the other ingredients for your salad into the bowl: spring mix, snap peas, chevre, dill. Add the remaining salad dressing and mix.
7. Let the homemade croutons and asparagus cool for at least 5 minutes and then add them to the bowl. 
8. Mix and enjoy!

WINE PAIRINGS

White Wine
The natural pairing for this salad is most certainly a Sauvignon Blanc. If you want to feel extra bougie on a weeknight when making this salad, look for a bottle of Sancerre of Pouilly-Fume. Trader Joe's has a great bottle of the latter that I'd highly recommend! 

Red Wine
Yes, you can pair red wine with a salad! In this case, I really enjoyed it with Gamay. If you can get your hands on this bottle of Gamay Noir from @cedargreencellars, do it! If not, try a Beaujolais (Gamay from France) with this salad. 

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