MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN SALAD

 

What’s the best part of having a butter fruit tree at home?

Your heart doesn’t shatter into a hundred pieces when you have to chuck the overripe one in the bin.

Puppy in the background trying to eat the fallen avocados!

We have three at home and Skip and the Puppy are currently on a mission to shoo away people who sneak into our garden to pluck the avocados. Last year we had a good crop and we had the fruit on our toasts, with scrambled eggs, in burgers, in tacos, guacamole and the old-fashioned way with sugar. This year saw hundreds of fallen, shrivelled avocados due to the off-season rains. Most of the ones that made it past adolescence got stolen by fruit thieves and the ones that remain are being fiercely protected by Skip who has apparently threatened to let the Puppy loose on these miscreants. Skip is however concerned that if the day does come, when he has to let the Puppy off the leash, these fruit thieves would get to know that our ferocious looking boxer is nothing but an attention seeking, big ball of floof, who, if left to him, would gladly give away all the avocados in the tree for a few pats on the head, a belly rub, a game of tug, two games of fetch and one of chase.

When Skip brought 4 avocados from the garden, I immediately had one on garlic toast, because that’s how I currently like it best. I decided to use the remaining in salads.

I had chicken lying around and I came across this wonderfully lemony and herb-y recipe for chicken salad which didn’t call for avocados but I threw one in anyway.

The marinated chicken tasted great by itself and makes for a great appetiser. I wish I had lettuce, that would have added the crunch, the salad needed. I used caramelised almonds instead. Throw in a whole lot of garlic chips if you like the flavour, it goes well with the herbed, lemon chicken. The original recipe also called for olives which I didn’t have at that time.

If salads tasted this good all the time, I’d gladly skip meals.

For more salad recipes, please follow me on Instagram and Facebook @lucilucent.

I have recipes for a Boiled Egg Salad, Cottage Cheese Broccoli and Corn Salad and a Chicken and Mango Salad on my blog. Do check it out. I have some vegetarian salad recipes coming up next.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN SALAD

 

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

Olive oil – 2 tbsp

Lemon juice – ¼ cup

Water – 2 tbsp

Vinegar – 1 tbsp

Oregano – 1 tbsp

Garlic (either powdered or minced) – 2 tsp

Salt, pepper – to taste

Salad ingredients:

Boneless chicken – 300 gms

English cucumber – 1

Tomato – 1

Avocado – 1

Garlic cloves – 6-7

Almonds – 10

Mayonnaise – 1 tbsp

Method:

1.     Whisk the dressing ingredients and marinate the chicken in it for a few hours.

2.     In a pan, add a little oil. Add almonds and sauté for a minute. Sprinkle a little salt and a generous pinch of sugar and sauté the almonds until they have caramelised. Set aside.

3.     Into the same pan, add sliced garlic and fry it until they turn crisp. Set aside.

4.     In a grill pan, add a table spoon of oil and grill the marinated chicken and half the marinade until the chicken is fully cooked and brown. Pour the remaining marinade and give the chicken a good mix and turn off the flame.

5.     Dice the cucumber, tomato and avocado. Add mayonnaise to it and give it a good mix. Add the pieces of chicken to it and pour the leftover marinade onto the salad and give it a good mix.

6.     Top the salad with the caramelised almonds and garlic chips. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

7.     Done.

 

CHICKEN AND MANGO SALAD

 

If you are looking to lose some of that lockdown weight, the best substitute for a meal would be a salad- a big bowl of healthy goodness that is delicious and will keep you from piling on calories. A perfect salad typically ought to include greens, fresh vegetables and fruits, proteins, healthy fats and insoluble fibre but let’s think beyond leafy greens and spruce up the traditional recipes.

Get adventurous with your ingredients. You’ll know you’ve got the perfect salad as long as you have something crunchy, something sweet, something creamy and a little bit of tangy added to that bowl.

If you are a vegetarian, you can substitute the chicken with alternate sources of protein such as cooked beans or tofu.

If the thought of mango with chicken (which by the way pairs up beautifully) perturbs you, you can add red grapes instead or skip fruit altogether.

You can reduce the quantity of mayonnaise and add sour cream or yogurt to it.

The possibilities are endless!

I have more exciting and simple salad recipes coming up. Please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent and show some love. Thank you.

CHICKEN AND MANGO SALAD

 

Ingredients:

Chicken (boneless) – 200 gms

Oil – 1tbsp

Half a lemon peel

Sweet Chilli Sauce – 3 tbsp

Mango – 1

Red/Yellow Bell pepper – half a large sized one

English cucumber – 1

Onion (small) – ½

Almonds – 10

A slice of bread

Salt, pepper – to taste  

Mayonnaise – ¼ cup

 

Method:

1.     Place the chicken in a pan. To this add salt, half the lemon peel and add water until the chicken is just covered.

2.     Bring the water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until the chicken is fully cooked.

3.     Drain the water and once the chicken has cooled, shred it and add it to a greased pan. Fry the pieces of chicken until they are nicely browned. Add the sweet chilli sauce to this, sauté for a seconds and set aside.

4.     Dice the mango, cucumber and bell pepper. Slice the onion and set aside.

5.     Toast almonds and set aside.

6.   Slather garlic butter on the slice of bread, cut it into small squares and toast these squares until they have browned.

7.   In a bowl, add the veggies and shredded chicken. To this add the mayonnaise and mix well.

8.     Add a little salt and pepper and toss the salad.

9.     Add the garlic croutons and almonds just before serving.

10. Done.