Mmm Monday: Superfood Salad with Grilled Chicken

Our guest writer Jessie (aka mscooksalot) has loved cooking and exploring recipes for as long as she can remember. Passionate about real food, she wants to know what’s in it and where it comes from.  She believes that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and can transform your experiences from the forgettable to the sublime. 

After last week’s indulgent winter warmer, the Beef and Irish Stout Pie, I thought it was only fitting that we have a super tasty and nutritious salad to balance it all out! Plus the sun has been out, so I’ve been craving fresh, light and healthy food!

This salad is inspired by one in Jamie Oliver’s new book Comfort Food, but the chicken, butternut squash and yogurt sauce are all my own additions. The original salad is supposed to be a complete meal, and to be honest it is, but I’m greedy and I wanted to bulk it out! I’ve added some spicy, marinated chicken, cooked on a grill pan for maximum flavour. I’ve also added some roast butternut squash and a creamy low fat Greek yogurt sauce on the side. It’s packed full of flavour, contrasting textures and is super nutritious too. Every individual ingredient is really good for you and you could cut half of them out and it would still be amazing.

This meal is perfect for lunch or dinner and would make a great lunch box too! In fact, we had enough leftovers from this meal for another lunch for one the next day.

Serves 2 generously, with leftovers.

• Ingredients

2 large free range or organic chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1/2 lemon, preferably unwaxed

1/2 lime

2 blood oranges or normal oranges or clementines

2 - 3 cloves of garlic

sea salt

extra virgin olive oil

light olive oil

small bunch fresh mint

small bag / 100 g baby spinach (organic if possible)

small head of radicchio or other bitter salad leave such as rocket

handful of pumpkin seeds

1 small butternut squash

1/4 tsp each of cinnamon, cumin, smoked sweet paprika, dried chilli flakes, dried thyme

1 pomegranate

30g feta

2 heaped tbsp non fat, low fat or full fat greek yogurt

100 g quinoa

250 ml water

1/2 organic chicken stock cube

• Method

Follow the instructions on the quinoa packet to cook the quinoa, then leave it to cool. I like to add half a chicken stock cube and the already squeezed lemon to give it a bit more flavour.

Preheat the oven to 200 C or Gas Mark 6. Wash the butternut squash. Very carefully, with a sharp knife, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds with a tablespoon. Reserve them in a dish for later.

Cut the squash into quarters lengthways, and half them again. Then chop it into small bitesize pieces. Spread on a baking tray along with the seeds, and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of light olive oil, half the dried spices and a good pinch of sea salt.

Mix well to coat evenly. Roast in the oven for 25 - 40 minutes until browned and crispy. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.

In the meantime, mix up the marinade for the chicken in a large shallow dish. Combine the zest and juice of the lemon, 1 or 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons of light olive oil, the remaining ground spices and a pinch of sea salt. Slice the chicken breast in half sideways, and place them, one at a time, into a large freezer bag.

With a rolling pin, hit them repeatedly to flatten them out and tenderise them. You can get all your frustrations out!

Or if you’re smarter than me, you’ll just get your butcher to do this step for you! Ask them to butterfly the breasts for you. Add them to the marinade and coat evenly. Leave to sit for 15 - 30 minutes - however long you have. 

Heat a grill pan (cast iron is preferable for heat distribution) until very hot. With a tongs, grill the the two flattened chicken breasts, about 6 minutes a side, until well charred and cooked through. 

Remove to a plate or chopping board to rest, then slice against the grain into thin slices.

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes, until they start to pop. Remove from the heat.

In a large salad bowl, cut a garlic clove in half and rub it well around the inside of the bowl. Add a pinch of salt, the lime and orange juice, and the extra virgin olive oil. Whisk well and check the seasoning.

Carefully cut all of the rind off the oranges and slice thinly. Using a teaspoon, scoop out small balls of the avocado.

Jamie’s recipe says to combine the quinoa, salad leaves, avocado and oranges in the salad bowl with the dressing, but I found that made everything far too messy and sloppy. So I tossed the avocado in the dressing first to help prevent it browning, then removed it. I then added the spinach and the radicchio, the toasted pumpkin seeds, the blood oranges and tossed it VERY gently. Add the avocado back in carefully.

To make the yogurt sauce, mix the yogurt with 1 clove of crushed garlic and a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve in a small bowl.

To serve, I used shallow bowls, and arranged it in segments like a clock. First a portion of quinoa, then the salad, then the sliced chicken, then the roast squash.

Sprinkle with the remaining pumpkin seeds, and crumble over the feta. Cut the pomegranate in half and with a wooden spoon, whack the back of it to get the jewelled pips out, and sprinkle over the top of the dish.

Serve immediately with the yogurt sauce on the side. Any leftovers should be refrigerated straight away in an airtight container and eaten with in 3 days.

Are you tempted to try out this recipe? What is your healthy eating fave? We’d love to hear all about it!

If you’d like to read more from Jessie, you can check out her blog here!