Has this ever happened to you?

A couple days ago, I walked through the open doors of my local grocery store in hopes of finding the perfect ingredients for dinner. The only problem was that I had no idea what I was hungry for, and no idea what I felt like cooking.
My first stop is always the organic produce section, and often times I’ll find my inspiration there. Let’s see… zucchini…nope. Leeks…noooo. Carrots… nah.  Eggplant…no, no, no! Gah. I look around, see the market workers, and I’m thinking to myself, “Who are these people, and where have they put my inspiration?” Then I see it… if there was a choir, they would have started singing (although that would really be weird to have a choir in the middle of a grocery store, but hey, this is my daydream). BLUEBERRIES! Oh how I  love blueberries! I could eat them every day and never get tired of them. The odd thing is, I don’t remember ever eating fresh blueberries until I was an adult. And those tiny round sugary things in a can that come inside the muffin mix don’t count.
I grabbed a box, and saw my plump, organic lovlies were on sale for $1.99. So I got four. Yes!

Right next to them were some gorgeous garnet red strawberries. Summer is definitely here! I tried to figure out what exactly I would do with berries for dinner, and then I looked one shelf down: jalapeños! Of course. And no, I don’t put jalapeños in everything I make, contrary to what some of my friends have accused me of… I’m just on a slightly spicy kick right now. 😉

I breezed through the aisles, grabbing a few more key ingredients, headed to Kenny’s house, and started mixing up these beauties. I must say, the color combo was so pretty – I definitely think this would be a good 4th of July lunch! Later on as Kenny and I took our first few bites, we realized this was definitely a recipe to write down. So, here’s my blueberry inspired entree – hope you’ll try it soon!

Chicken with Summerberry Salsa

1 box of strawberries, hulled and diced
2 small boxes of blueberries
5 green onions, sliced thin, only bottom half used
2 small jalapeños, seeded and deveined
1 tablespoon fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 chicken breasts, cut into 3 pieces each
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups drinking water
2 teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 Tablespoon butter
1 small avocado, diced (cut it up at the end to prevent browning)

In a large bowl, mix together all berries, onions, and jalapeños. Stir in lemon juice and set aside. Stir every so often so flavors can mix together.
Meanwhile, set chicken pieces on a plate, and sprinkle half of the pepper, salt, and oregano over it. Flip meat over and repeat. Set aside.

Put quinoa into a medium sized saucepan and add water. Heat on high until boiling. Turn heat to low, stir, and cook, covered for 10 minutes, or until done. Stir in butter.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet on medium low, and add chicken. Cook till meat is white on edges, and flip over. Set heat to low and continue cooking. Once meat is golden, flip one more time and cook till meat is completely cooked through.

Plating: Put about ½ cup of cooked quinoa on plate, top with 2-3 pieces of chicken, and spoon Summerberry Salsa over. Top with avocado dices.

Enjoy!

Now, do you think that blueberries are just for grocery stores and farmers markets? Nope! You can easily grow them at home! Check out this video from P. Allen Smith – he’ll walk you through the steps so you’ll be harvesting your own blueberries in no time.

So what do you think? Are these blueberries tempting you too? Make sure to say hi – I’d love to see your comments!