Easy Chicken Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

Serves 4
(COOKING + PREP TIME 45 MINS)

• 2 large chicken breast (4 small)
• 8 quail eggs
• 200g of mixed coloured quinoa
• 2 small avocados
• ½ a round lettuce
• 2 chicory bulbs
• A bunch of salad cress
• ½ a small cucumber

Buttermilk dressing

• 6 tbsp of low fat buttermilk
• 1 tbsp of lime zest
• ½ a lime of juice
• A bunch of mint
• A bunch of basil
• Salt + Pepper
• 1 small clove of garlic

Method

• Start by cooking the quinoa to packet instructions and leave to the side to dry and cool down.
• For the quail eggs – cook in boiling water for 4 minutes and directly plunge into a bowl of cold water and ice to stop them cooking. Remove the shells carefully and cut in half.
• Peel and grate the clove of garlic into a pestle & mortar. Then finely chop the basil and mint and add to the garlic along with the zest of lime and lime juice. Bash all the ingredients together to create a paste – this will colour buttermilk green. Season with salt and pepper and leave to the side.
• For the chicken – place between two sheets of cling film and generously season with salt and pepper on both sides then flatten with a rolling pin, this will reduce the cooking time.
• Place a non-stick pan on medium/high heat with a little olive oil and cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side. Press down to see whether the juices run clear – if so the chicken will be fully cooked. Leave to the side until cold and then cut into thin slices.
• For the chicory – after slicing off the bottom, carefully pull the leaves apart, wash if unclean and do the same with the round lettuce keeping the leaves whole. Peel the cucumber leaving on some of the skin to create a stripy effect. Slice in half and finely slice at an angle.
• Slice the avocado in half and carefully take out the stone, scoop out the flesh with a large spoon and finely slice.
• Now for assembly – start by laying out the round lettuce leaves and sprinkle over half of the quinoa. Lay over half the avocado, chicory and cucumber. Next, place the sliced chicken and halved quail eggs. Add the remaining cucumber, avocado, quinoa, and chicory leaves. Sprinkle over the salad cress and then drizzle over the buttermilk dressing.

READ THIS ISSUE OF BEAST MAGAZINE

Tag us with your copy of Beast magazine @beastmag_london on Instagram