Jennifer Slattery's Sweet and Sassy California Chicken Salad

Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit with Jennifer at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com.


Jennifer's Latest Book Release: Intertwined

Abandoned by her husband for another woman, Tammy Kuhn, an organ procurement coordinator often finds herself in tense and bitter moments. After an altercation with a doctor, she is fighting to keep her job and her sanity when one late night she encounters her old flame Nick. She walks right into his moment of facing an unthinkable tragedy. Because they both have learned to find eternal purposes in every event and encounter, it doesn’t take long to discover that their lives are intertwined but the ICU is no place for romance….or is it? Could this be where life begins again?

Intertwined, part of New Hope Publisher’s contemporary fiction line, is a great reminder of how God can turn our greatest tragedies and failures into beautiful acts of love and grace. Readers will fall in love with the realistic characters and enjoy the combination of depth, heart-felt emotion and humor that makes Jennifer’s novels so appealing. Readers will be inspired to find God in every moment and encounter in their own lives! Purchase the book HERE. 

Jennifer's Recipe for Sweet and Sassy California Chicken Salad

This salad, which I’ll call the Sweet and Sassy California Chicken Salad, turned out to be awesome. It arose, initially, from a Chinese salad my husband had when we were in California but soon morphed into the Sweet and Sassy version when I learned our daughter, who’s not a fan of soy sauce but loves anything citrusy, was coming home from college for the weekend.

For the chicken marinade:

¼ cup orange juice concentrate (do not dilute)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 large cloves minced garlic
¼ cup balsamic vinegar (or white rice vinegar)
5 basil leaves, chopped
½ teaspoon sage
½ teaspoon salt

Mix the above ingredients together and marinade chicken in it for at least three hours. I used four chicken breasts, though there’s enough marinade for at least six.

For salad:

¼ head of green cabbage
½ head of red cabbage
1 beet, peeled and grated
2 oranges, peeled and sliced (or substitute with mandarin orange slices)
1 red pepper, julienned
¼ to ½ cup slivered almonds

For dressing:

¼ cup orange juice from concentrate
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup vinegar of choice (I like balsamic)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Grill the chicken. We prefer a charcoal grill, and really enjoyed the smoky flavor. While chicken is grilling, mix the salad ingredients together, and then serve onto individual plates. Mix the dressing ingredients together and set aside. When the chicken is done, slice each breast into bite sized pieces and place it one breast worth on top of each salad. Drizzle with the dressing. And dig in! Can you think of any other ingredients I could’ve added? Share your ideas with me in the comments below!