Chicken Caesar Salad With Quinoa, Kale And Crunchy Walnuts Inspired By Rosemary Shrager
Rosemary said in her episode of Desert Island Dishes that the dish she eats the most often is salad. But not the limp lettuce kind of salad. No, she plays around with roasted vegetables and uses up left overs and switches between vinaigrettes and creamy mayonnaise style dressings.
She says she has a salad pretty much every day for lunch and as the possibilities for different flavour combinations are endless, this sounds like a pretty good option for lunch to me.
One of my favourite salads at the moment is a sort of play on a Caesar salad, but really only very loosely. I cheat with the dressing - it’s so easy to make and is completely delicious. The roasted kale adds a lovely crunch and texture and the roasted walnuts make the perfect alternative to a crouton. Everyone I serve this salad to always asks how to make it. So here is the recipe.
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s)
3 anchovies
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
For the salad
1 large chicken breast
1 cup quinoa
4 handful sof raw chopped kale
olive oil, salt and pepper
1 large handful of walnuts
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200C
Take a small baking tray and put the chicken breast on there with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Take a second bigger baking tray and place the shredded kale, and walnuts on there. Again, season with salt and pepper and a good slug of olive oil.
Roast everything for about 10 minutes. You want the chicken to be cooked through and the kale and walnuts to be lovely and crispy and golden.
For the quinoa:
Add to a pan with salt, and some dried herbs. Add boiling water and cook until done to your liking - and then drain as you would with pasta. I find this much the easiest way of cooking quinoa.
For the dressing:
‘Melt” the anchovies in a tablespoon of water. Give them a mush with a whisk and they will sort of dissolve. Then add the Parmesan, crushed garlic and pepper and add a generous glut of boiling water. It will look like you’ve added too much water at this point, but hold your nerve. Add the mayonnaise and whisk to bring it all together. It should now be looking lovely and smooth and dressing like. Add more water if it needs it. Taste and season.