Jan 21, 2011

A taste of summer

Icecreams by the beach, sipping a glass of chilled white wine on the deck, fresh bread dipped in olive oil…I have to admit to a twinge of jealousy when I see people enjoying these aspects of the alfresco Kiwi summer; a twinge of jealousy that their lifestyle choices allow them to enjoy these tastes of summer more frequently than my choices do.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for sympathy – I know that it’s my choice. And I wouldn’t change my choices – I feel better than I have in years, and that’s definitely worth a few ‘sacrifices’. But just occasionally, I feel a bit like I’m missing out.

So today, I came up with another way of experiencing summer. It may not be alcoholic, or full of refined sugars, but in my book, this salad definitely qualifies as a ‘taste of summer’…


Summer Stonefruit Chicken Salad

Ingredients
4 white peaches
2 white nectarines
1 red onion, chopped
¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Rocket (or other lettuce-type leaves)
Cucumber (‘ribboned’ using a peeler)
2/3 of an orange kumara
330g chicken breasts, halved horizontally and cut into small pieces
Extra mint (torn up) for garnish


(12 blocks protein, 12 blocks carbs, 36 blocks fat – this did each of us 1 lunch and 1 dinner)

Slice stonefruit and place in a bowl with red onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mint, salt and pepper. Combine and leave to marinate for at least half an hour…preferably longer.

Using a peeler, make ‘ribbons’ out of the kumara. Mix with a bit of olive oil and salt. Spread out on a baking tray and bake at 200 degrees for approximately 5 minutes (or until starting to get crispy).

Remove tray from oven and unstick ribbons from tray by scraping with a spatula (they will stick to each other – this is ok…it looks cool!).

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and fry in a non-stick pan until browned.

On each plate, place some rocket and some cucumber ribbons, then the appropriate quantity of cooked chicken. Spoon over the allocated amount of the fruit mix, top with a handful of kumara ribbons, and garnish with fresh mint.

The salad got rave reviews from Bear…and just quietly, I’m kinda proud of this one too!


1 comment:

  1. Love your salad Jo Jo, will have to make it soon! Looks delish!!! Yummmooooo!!!

    ReplyDelete