This is a recipe for a great summer salad that I adapted from the East Coast Living magazine. The original recipe called for pomegranate seeds which sounded really neat but lo and behold, the season for pomegranates is limited between november and december. So I did my own variation and replaced pomegranates with berries (I've used raspberries, wild strawberries and blackberries before). Last time, I also used some dried blueberries along with the raisins. The original recipe also called for

• 1 cup fresh berries
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 can drained mandarines (or fresh equivalent)
• 1 lb. cooked chicken, cut into 1 inch chuncks
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 large green apple, chopped
• 1 tbsp italian parsley (optional)
• 1/4 green onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. curry powder
• 1/3 cup virgin olive oil
• 3 tsbp. balsamic vinegar

• in a large mixing bowl combine raisins, mandarines, chicken, almonds, apple, parsley, green onion and curry powder
• in a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and vinegar
• pour into chicken mixture and mix to combine well
• add salt and pepper to taste
• refrigerate until ready to serve
• serve on top of leaf lettuce and sprinkle with berries