Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Almonds, Goat Cheese, and Pan-Seared Chicken

Spinach Salad
1-2 handfuls baby spinach per serving
~ 5 sliced strawberries per serving
1/2 cup toasted almonds
crumbled goat cheese (to taste)

White Wine Vinaigrette
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1. Mix above ingredients together and drizzle over spinach salad.

Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fat trimmed)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp black pepper

* Makes 4 salads

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 275 F. Poke thickest half of each breast 5-6 times with a fork and sprinkle with kosher salt. Place chicken, skinned side down, in a large baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake until thickest part registers 145 to 150 degrees on instant-read thermometer, about 30 to 40 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from oven and transfer, skinned side up, to paper towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. While pan is heating, whisk butter, flour, cornstarch, and pepper together in small bowl. Lightly brush top side of chicken with half of butter mixture. Place chicken in skillet, coated side down, and cook until browned. While chicken browns, brush with remaining butter mixture. Using tongs, flip chicken, reduce heat to medium, and cook until second side is browned and thickest part of breast registers 160 to 165 degrees.

This is a perfect dish for a hot summer evening. It's light and easy to put together and you can prepare the salads while the chicken is in the oven. The strawberries and goat cheese can be swapped for your favorite fruit/cheese combo. I've tried raspberries with goat cheese before, and that was also really good. I'm thinking pear and Gorgonzola would be tasty, or strawberries and sliced brie. The vinaigrette is just something quickly thrown together, so be sure to taste-test it before putting it on the salad. My future father-in-law recently gave me a tip for toasting nuts: instead of putting them in the oven (where I usually forget about them until they are scorched and smoking), try toasting them in a skillet with olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until browned. They are super tasty, and you can use the leftover oil to add flavor in the vinaigrette.
I got the recipe for the pan-seared chicken breast from Cooks Illustrated, which is a great magazine with lots of great tips. Their website has a bunch of pan sauces that go great with this chicken, if you would like to try something different with it. They do charge a small fee to join, but I definitely recommend it.