Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Salad with Dilly Farmers Cheese Dressing

Every week, Caroline Wright creates simple, civilized recipes for Food52 that feed four -- for under $20, in under 20 minutes.

Today: All you need is a glass of rosé to complete this light, satisfying, warm weather meal.

Stew is to winter what crisp salad is to summer: It's the dish I crave when I'm dealing with the weather and the moods that come with it. This salad is delicious, and the recipe is adaptable to whatever you bring home from the market. Feel free to switch from chicken to a meaty, grill-worthy fish, or to swap the spinach for another green of its character and class.

Whether you cook this salad as written -- grilling the chicken and asparagus alongside each other and serving them on a bed of spinach with a dilly dressing -- or come up with your own variation, you will find yourself full, happy, and cool. The accompanying glass of rosé, absent from the ingredient list but altogether assumed, really makes this dinner complete.

Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Salad with Dilly Farmers Cheese Dressing

Serves 4

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely crumbled farmers cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped dill
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 bunch spinach, trimmed and washed (about 6 cups)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (sliced from 1 ear corn)

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

As a freelance food writer and cook, I first wrote this style of recipe as a column on my blog, The Wright Recipes, as an excuse to cook good food for my friends in a quick and simple way. 

Twenty-Dollar, Twenty-Minute™ Meals grew into a cookbook that was published by Workman in May 2013. The recipes found here are original, made especially for Food52 to once again celebrate simple food with friends.

Photo by Caroline Wright