*This Pistachio Crusted Chicken Salad is an amazing light and healthy dinner. Caramelized onions, chopped apple, crumbled goat cheese, and a homemade honey mustard dressing are all paired with pistachio baked chicken.*

Many of the recipes I make were inspired – more or less directly – by dishes I’ve seen in a magazine, noticed on Instagram, or eaten myself at a restaurant or friend’s house. Most often, I’ll simply take the concept, or a certain flavor combination, and reinterpret and modify until I end up with a dish of my own. Perhaps it’s pairing tart lemon and fragrant rosemary, or roasting carrots in a sweet, syrupy sauce. Today, however, I’m sharing a recipe that I created to mimic, quite literally, a favorite salad of mine.

This particular salad makes me smile not only because it’s delicious but also because it reminds me of some of my most favorite memories. My aunt and uncle live on the Monterey Peninsula, an idyllic little beachside area a few hours south of San Francisco. Growing up, I would often stay with them for a week or two during the summer. And I loved it! My aunt and uncle are some of the sweetest, most generous people I know, and these visits were just like the best summer camp you could imagine. We would go to the aquarium, stay up past my bedtime, and work through an elaborate scavenger hunt my aunt organized across the town that excited me to no end! We would also eat at least one meal at a favorite local restaurant, and always, without fail, we’d order one particular salad.

This pistachio crusted chicken salad is my interpretation of that dish – as close as I can get to the original, at least. This salad is easy to prepare, but the flavors are exquisite! A base of crunchy romaine lettuce is topped with creamy goat cheese, tart and sweet dried cherries, caramelized onions, and fresh apple chunks. The star of the show is healthy baked chicken breasts, coated in finely chopped pistachios for the perfect crunch. An easy homemade honey mustard dressing – both sweet and sharp – ties everything together. I’ll be honest – the week I made this salad my boyfriend and I enjoyed it for dinner two nights in a row, because it’s just that delicious! Nothing will ever replace my fond memories of those sweet summer adventures, but this healthy, light and filling chicken salad has definitely become a favorite dinner that I can whip up at home anytime.