I had to practice using my special technique for boneless, skinless chicken breast so many times that I ended up having quite a lot of chicken around the house for a couple of weeks. Glad to have it, I love CHICKEN! So here is another salad for all you summer, salad-loving people!
Chicken Salad with Goat Cheese
serves 2
200 g chicken meat cut in cubes
140 g romaine lettuce torn or cut
50 g fresh goat cheese crumbled
1 T pine nuts
1 T sunflower seeds
1 t pumpkin seeds
1 large tomato sliced
1/2 c grilled zucchini (or pan sautéed in cut ribbons and then cut into cubes)
20 g basil leaves torn or whole small
1 small shallot (I forgot it on the plate) sliced extra thin -about 5 g
s&p
Dijon Mustard Dressing
1 T dijon mustard
2 T white wine vinegar
4 T cold pressed olive oil
This kind of typical summer salad always makes me think of the south of France, with its abundance of fresh flavors. It's perfect for a hot day or for the day after eating too many french fries.
Typical southern-style French salads often have large torn leaves. They never appear cut with a knife, but torn by hands that appreciate the exceptional quality products that France grows.
To make the dressing, Place the mustard and the vinegar in a glass jar with a lid and shake the shit out of it! Then add the s&p and olive oil and shake the shit out of it again! It should be properly emulsified now and ready to serve. Set aside.
Prep your lettuce, tomatoes, shallots, basil, nuts & seeds. Cut your chicken in cubes and crumble that goat cheese. It's messy, but you can lick your fingers after as a bonus! But then of course, wash them...
For the zucchini, I happened to have some leftover grilled from a BBQ the day before. But what I do when I want this kind of zucchini for any meal (and obviously not heat up a BBQ for it) is slice it in long sheets about 1/2 and inch thick. Then in a relatively hot pan on medium-high heat, with a couple of tablespoons olive oil, I cook the sheets (seasoned with s&p) about 2 minutes per side until they are cooked though. Then I cut those sheets in strips and those strips into cubes.
Toss everything into a big salad bowl, dress it and mix well. Et Voilá!