Potato and Spicy Chicken Salad Recipe

This is a big and hearty salad of potatoes and spicy chicken. The dish is easy to prepare and assemble, yet provides four generous portions that are enough for a main course.

Though the recipe given here is modern, the idea goes back to the huge mixed salads (grand sallets) of Elizabethan and Tudor times where chicken was sliced and mixed in a serving dish with salad greens, cooked vegetables, fruit and fish.

Potato and Spicy Chicken Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Salad:
2 chicken breast fillets (about 125g [4 1/2 oz] each, skinned)
25g (1 oz) butter
1 red chilli, chopped
1 tbsp clear honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds
2 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped
2 large potatoes, diced
50g thin green (French) beans, halved
1 red bell pepper, cored and cut into thin strips
2 tomatoes, de-seeded and diced

For the Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of chilli powder
1 tbsp garlic vinegar
pinch of caster sugar
1 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped

Method:

Cut the chicken into strips. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and add the chicken, chilli, honey and cumin. Cook the mixture for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through.

Turn the mixture into a bowl and set aside to cool before stirring in the coriander (cilantro) leaves.

In the meantime, bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the diced potatoes and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool.

Blanch the green beans in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and leave to cool. Mix the green beans and potatoes together in a salad bowl then add the bell pepper strips, diced tomatoes and the potatoes along with the beans. Toss with the spicy chicken mixture to combine.

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk to combine then pour the dressing over the salad. Toss the ingredients to coat in the dressing and serve immediately.

For more classic salad recipes (including the grand sallets mentioned above), please visit the Celtnet Salad and Salad-recipe pages.