Creole Chicken Salad
From ‘Hot Hot Hot! Cooking with fire and spice’ by Paul Gayler
Ingredients
- 4x Sommerlad Chicken Breasts
- 2x tablespoons of Blackened Cajun Spice Mix
- Oil (for frying)
- 1x head of chicory, leaves separated
- 2x Cos lettuces, leaves separated
- 1x bunch of watercress
- 75g of black beans, cooked
- 4x tablespoons of sweetcorn
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 125ml olive oil
- 4 drops of tabasco sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon chopped oregano
Method
Season the chicken breast with salt and a little pepper and then dust with the spice mix. Fry them in a little bit of hot oil.
While the chicken is cooling, make the vinaigrette: place the white wine vinegar, mustard and garlic in a bowl, then whisk in the oil a little at a time. Add the tabasco, lemon juice and oregano.
Place the salad leaves, cooked beans, sweetcorn and tomatoes in a large bowl, pour over the vinaigrette and toss well together. Season to taste. Cut the hot chicken into slices and scatter on top of the salad, then serve immediately – a wonderful blend of hot and cold.
Tip:
If you are unable to find Blackened Cajun Spice Mix you can make your own. To do so, grind the following ingredients together into a fine powder. A tablespoon each of salt, hot paprika, dried thyme, dried oregano combined with a teaspoon each of garlic powder, black peppercorns, chilli powder (or cayenne pepper) and cumin