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Monday, August 29, 2011

Poached Chicken Wild Rocket Salad

Gosh, I've been wanting to blog about my favorite foods for quite a while now, unfortunately every time I make something I dig into it right away and end up with a happy tummy, but no photos of the dish! It's that instant gratification thing :). Today I delayed that gratification and here's my first food post!


This dish is healthy and delicious, with tender free-range poached chicken on a bed of organic wild rocket (arugula) and deer's tongue lettuce (or similar), and tossed in a sharp apple cider vinegar dressing that will awake your senses and leave you feeling sated but not overloaded.

Ingredients
Whole chicken (I used organic free-range young chicken)
Knob of ginger
Rocket
Lettuce, torn into pieces
Carrot, shredded through mandolin
Purple cabbage, shredded

Dressing
1 C Apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg's raw, unfiltered ACV)*
1/2 C Extra virgin olive oil (first cold pressed is best)*
1 T Raw honey (I use Y.S. Farms Raw Honey, it's so flavorful)*
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1/4 t sea salt*
Dash sesame oil
* I usually buy from Vitacost at Amazon as the prices are cheaper or comparable to what I'd find at stores. Vitacost offers free shipping for purchases above $50. And they sell Nunez de Prado olive oil, which is one of the best I've ever tasted).

Whatcha gonna do:

  1. Poaching the chicken. Bring about 4 C water to boil in a pot with the ginger (or enough water that when you put the chicken in, the water will cover the entire chicken). Smack the ginger once or twice with the flat blade of the cleaver to bruise. Drop the chicken in gently, turn the heat down to simmer, put the lid on and let go for 30 - 40 minutes depending on the size of the bird. When done, lift out the chick, let cool. Then pull out about 1 C of meat and tear into bite size pieces. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt for flavor.
  2. The Dressing. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and let sit.
  3. Assembling the salad. Put all the salad ingredients into a mixing bowl. Give the dressing a good whisk with a fork and drizzle some over the salad. 2 - 3 T should do it. Toss it with a light hand, pile on a plate, and serve!
I'll be posting every two weeks, so stay tuned!