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