Chicken and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula and Asiago

This weekend I hit up two farmers' markets picking up a nice array of fruits and vegetables including arugula, baby squash and zucchini, sweet cherries, grape tomatoes, and sourdough bread. While I took a lot of time walking to these markets and picking and choosing what would work for meals for the week. That is where the complexity ended for me this week. I decided to go the easy route on cooking and took the lead of my friend Nick, of www.macheesmo.com, and the approach of his new cookbook, Cornerstone Cooking.

In his book, Nick shows you ways to make a basic dish and then repurpose the leftovers. Because let's be serious, trying to fit in work, exercise, play and everything else can be enough to squeeze into a week, much less cooking. This was one of those weeks that I knew I was going to be busy (and heading out of town for the weekend) so I didn't want to overload my fridge with leftovers, to spend more than 30 minutes any given day to cooking.

One of the cornerstone recipes in Nick's book is your basic rotisserie chicken. In an effort to save time (and as I mentioned above, I was feeling lazy), I decided to pick up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I used this chicken to make two of this week's recipes. The first of which is this salad. The second I will post on Wednesday (hint: it's from Nick's cookbook!)

Chicken and Prosciutto Salad with Arugula and Asiago (serves 6)

 

Ingredients:

2 (1-ounce) slices sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Cooking spray

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp garlic powder

3 TB extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 oz very thin slices prosciutto, chopped

2 TB fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

10 oz baby arugula

1/3 cup shaved or shredded Asiago cheese

8 oz shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°.

Place bread cubes on a baking sheet, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Add basil and garlic powder; toss well. Place bread mixture in preheating oven; bake for 8 minutes or until crisp.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add prosciutto; sauté 4 minutes or until prosciutto is crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons oil, juice, and salt in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Place arugula, half of cheese, and juice mixture in a large bowl; toss well to coat. Divide arugula mixture evenly among 6 plates; divide chicken, prosciutto, tomatoes, remaining cheese, and croutons evenly over salads.