Deconstructed Chicken Curry Salad
Serves: 4
Time: 35 mins
Deconstructed dinners are perfect for when you have little people or ‘fussy eaters.’ It gives them full control over what they want in the salad and how they want to eat it. This one is great to do on the grill plate so get that BBQ cranking. Depending on my mood I sometimes like to give the husband the reins on the BBQ which for me means once the prep is done, I can sit back and relax. Bliss.
Leftovers
Lunch is all the same but it’s a good idea to shred your chicken up by hand. This makes it easier to deal with tomorrow.
What you'll need
1 cup of buckwheat
8 chicken thigh pieces, bone out
1/2 cauliflower
1 telegraph cucumber
1 small bag of baby rocket
1/2 a bunch of coriander
3 spring onion stalks
3/4 cup of pot set greek yoghurt
1 lime
1/2 lemon
From the Pantry
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
olive oil
sea salt flakes and pepper
Prep and Cook
Marinate Chicken
In a bowl place the curry powder and zest and juice of 1 lime with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Wash coriander by shaking it really well in a bowl of cold water and then flick out excess water.
Chop the stalks of the coriander up nice and fine and add them to the marinade.
Add the chicken thighs and massage into the mix, pop in the fridge.
Cook Buckwheat
Rinse buckwheat in a sieve under cold running water until the water runs clear.
Fill a medium-sized pot halfway with cold water and a pinch of salt and bring up to boil.
Add the buckwheat and cook for 7-10 minutes. You want the buckwheat to be al dente but still just holding it’s shape, any longer and they start to burst.
Strain and spread out on a tray to cool.
Cook Cauliflower
Cut cauliflower into large florets.
Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a large non-stick frypan. Add the cauliflower and the cumin seeds and toss occasionally till the cauliflower has some golden tinged edges. (We are only very lightly cooking the cauliflower so it will still be crunchy).
Cut Cucumber
Slice the cucumber in half lengthways and then in half again. Now slice the cucumber on diagonals into bite sized pieces.
Make dressing
Finely chop 1/4 of your washed coriander leaves and mix together with the yoghurt and the juice of half a lemon and half a teaspoon of ground cumin. Season with salt and pepper.
Over not Under
Chicken is the one meat that I will always happily over cook than under cook, and if in doubt then it is always best to slice into the centre of your biggest piece to see how it looks.
Cook Chicken
Heat the BBQ up to 200 degrees. If you don’t want to use the BBQ then a griddle pan is just as good.
I like to use the grill side of the BBQ for the visuals so make sure you oil it first.
Place the chicken thighs on the grill side and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes - if you have a hooded bbq then shut the hood. Turn the chicken over after 5 minutes and cook for a further 5 minutes.
By only turning the chicken once, you will get lovely clean lines. I like a good charred look when cooking on the BBQ. Remove from the BBQ and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Plate it Pretty
If you don’t have a large serving platter then this would also look cool on a large black oven tray.
Spoon buckwheat into a small bowl and place in the corner of your tray.
Scatter the cauliflower beside the buckwheat so that it spreads up the tray in a triangular shape to the opposite corner.
Add the cucumber beside and then the rocket, lay the coriander over the rocket and slice your spring onion heads lengthways and scatter or fill the gap.
The chicken will fill the other half of the tray and serve your yogurt dressing on the side.
Sprinkle the entire tray with a little sea salt flakes and some fresh cracked pepper.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
Tomorrow’s lunch is made up of everything leftover from dinner but I would shred the chicken up while it’s still warm, that way it’s easier to eat tomorrow as a salad.