st. james hotel’s california chicken salad with creamy banana dressing
~ california chicken salad ~
I met one of my dearest and oldest friends at the St. James Hotel for “wine lunch” a couple days ago and was disappointed to see that they weren’t serving my FAVORITE salad any longer! What to do? Well, luckily, one of the former chefs shared the recipe with me awhile back…all I had to do was look through about 2,000 recipes and voila! here it is. Once you have this, you won’t be able to stop making it. Just sayin.’
for four salads :
4 grilled chicken breasts
1 head romaine lettuce
16 large, ripe strawberries
1 bunch red grapes
4 large, ripe bananas (divided)
2 juicy oranges, sliced
2 crisp apples, sliced
1 can pineapple chunks, drained (or fresh pineapple chunks)
On four dinner plates, place a large bed of torn romaine lettuce greens. Place one sliced grilled chicken breast in the center of the greens. Wash and divide the fruits, and place an equal amount on each plate, surrounding the chicken breasts. Reserve two of the bananas for the dressing.
to make the creamy banana dressing:
2 ripe bananas
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup brown sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend until pureed and creamy. Serve on top of the salads. Sprinkle salads with salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
~Melissa
Love this, and the banana dressing sounds amazing!
Thanks Mister 🙂 enjoy!
What a gorgeous salad, Melissa!
Thanks my sweetie Lisa! xo
What a refreshing Summer salad! Love this Melissa!! xoxox
thanks Tara! xo
Wow, Melissa!! This looks and sounds so great…I’ve never had banana dressing, but can imagine it’s quite refreshing! Like eating a smoothie on a plate! xo 🙂
Aw! Thanks Ally. This is a really good salad. very refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day. enjoy sweetie 🙂 xoxoxo
This Summer-tastic!!! I am making this as the central dish for my Birthday Dinner in early July…cannot wait to serve this to my best friends!
Thanks so much for commenting Jeanine! enjoy, and have a beautiful birthday! xo
Gonna do this next Tuesday for my group of Tuesday nite ladies… I’m always looking for somethng different and fabulous. I have so many of your recipes saved and I’ve made so many already. They are always wonderful! I love your stuff! So glad I “liked” you on FB ! ! !
Hi Jennifer! You and your friends are sure to love this recipe! perfect for a ladies’ lunch! xoxo thanks for visiting 🙂
Do you think you could use greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
you sure could, Stacy 🙂
This chicken salad is a must try. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, Cheryl! Glad you like it. Thanks for visiting my little corner of the internet! XO
I just found your site. There are so many luscious recipes on here I
can’t wait to get started. Thanks
I’m so happy you’re here! Enjoy the recipes and posts. 🙂 XOXO ~Melissa
The best salad I ever ate, years ago in the Veranda, with a muffin and banana dressing, extra dressing! Nothing has ever compared to this salad! A favorite memory of mine!