15 Minute Crispy Chicken Thighs With All The Greens And A Tarragon & Lemon Drizzle
This is one of my favourite salads.
It only takes 15 minutes to pull together and is full of contrast with the smooth creaminess of the avocado, the crunch of the cucumber and the hot crispiness from the chicken thighs added straight from the pan.
The star of this particular show are the chicken thighs. I absolutely love chicken thighs - they are so forgiving to cook, and really never let you down, so I love serving them when I have friends over. I normally whack the oven on to 200C - pop the thighs (bone in, skin on - thats important) in a. baking tray with a plug of olive oil and a generous pinch of Malden on each one. Bung them in the oven and give them a good 45 - 50 minutes and the skin will be gorgeous and crispy, pulling away from the perfectly cooked meat. So easy and so good.
But! Could you sense a but? But they take 50 minutes and sometimes we need food quicker than that. So - this method of cooking the chicken thighs is going to become your new best friend. It’s so quick and only takes 12 minutes
The dressing is a very useful one to have in your repertoire - more of a drizzle than a dressing per se. But I love it - we used to use creme fraiche pr yoghurt based drizzles daily in the restaurant I trained in and it’s a habit that’s stayed with me. They are so good! I personally love tarragon and think it works particularly well with chicken - but if you aren’t a fan you could swap it out for chives, chopped parsley or even just keep it oaken with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients
4 chicken thighs, skin on (this is important) Boned if you find them / the butcher does them for you - or with the bone in and we will take them out
Maldon, olive oil
For the salad:
2 big handfuls of mixed salad leaves of your choice
½ cucumber, finely sliced
1 avocado, sliced
handful of pumpkin seeds
For the dressing
2 tablespoons green yoghurt, or creme fraiche
½ lemon juice
1 tablespoon tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
Instructions
Start with the chicken.
Debone the thighs - I find it easiest to do this with scissors. (I’ve done a video in my instagram stories showing you how I do it incase that is helpful)
Once boned - flatten them out skin side up. Drizzle with a little olive oil and a good pinch of Maldon sea salt.
Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan and then over a medium - high heat, place the thighs skin side down so that they sizzle. Cover with a little foil, and then place another saucepan on the top and fill this with random cans from the larder or anything heavy you have to weight it down.
This is going to give you gorgeous crispy chicken skin as the fat renders out of it. Dont be tempted to whack the heat up, or the skin will burn - medium high will do the trick.
After 9 minutes remove the weights and have a look at the chicken. The skin should be lovely and golden, and then you just flip them over and cook for another 2 mins to ensure they are cooked through. (Note if the skin could be crispier - just give them another minute before you turn them over).
Meanwhile make your dressing by mixing the dressing ingredients together. Taste to check the level of lemon, salt and pepper. If you want it runnier - but its already lemon-y enough, just add a few drops of water until its exactly how you want it.
Once the chicken is cooked, slice it up and serve hot in the salad bowls with the dressing drizzled over.
So good - and it really does take 15 minutes all in. Give it a go!
Recipe Reel Here
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