Crispy Polenta Chicken Caesar Salad
- tostadacooking
- Aug 11, 2015
- 2 min read
Crispy Polenta Chicken Caesar Salad
This hearty salad from Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals Cookbook is suitable as a main meal at lunchtime or supper and is probably one of the best caesar salads I have ever tasted. Jamie includes jarred red peppers in his recipe and ciabatta, but as I didn’t have those to hand at the time, I had to make do with what I had in the cupboard. This photograph post on my instagram account @tostadacooking has received a good number of ‘likes’ and I agree with my fellow food bloggers opinion, in that, if something looks this good then it probably tastes good. Trust me and try it for yourself!
Crispy Polenta Chicken Caesar Salad
Prep 20 mins
Serves 4
Chicken
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (Jamie uses 2 x chicken breasts)
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 heaped tbsp polenta
olive oil
Salad
1 small petit pan
1 clove of garlic
2 red chicory
100g of bacon lardons (Jamie uses – 3 x Smoked pancetta slices)
3 Gem lettuces (Jamie uses – 2 x romaine lettuces)
10 cherry tomatoes
balsamic vinegar
1 punnet of cress
Dressing
1 clove of garlic
2 lemons
40g Parmesan cheese (plus extra to serve)
4 anchovy fillets
4v heaped tbsp of natural yoghurt
1 splash of Worcester sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp English mustard
1/2 bunch of fresh basil
Method
Prepare the salad dressing by blitzing all the ingredients in a processor until smooth and then season to taste. It may be worth noting that it is best to crumble in the parmesan before you blitz.
On a large sheet of greaseproof paper scatter seasoning, the paprika and polenta then place the chicken on the paper and ensure both side sides of the chicken are coated with the mixture.
Fold over the greaseproof paper on top and bash with a rolling pin until approximately 1.5cm thick.
In a frying pan heat a splash of olive oil and then place the chicken in the pan, turning every 3 or 4 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
Whilst the chicken is cooking, slice the petit pan lengthways, so that you have about 3-4 slices of bread. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and rub half a clove of garlic gently over one side of each slice. Place the bread slices on a heated griddle until charred with stripes (both sides).
Once the bread is charred you can use the same pan to cook the lardons.
Whilst the bacon and the chicken finish cooking prepare the salad by roughly slicing the lettuce and placing this on a large serving platter. Halve the cherry toms and also add to the platter.
Remove the cooked chicken and slice into strips and arrange around the salad. Drain any fat from the chicken pan and then quickly toss the chicory in a splash of balsamic in the same pan. Add the chicory to the platter and then slice the petit pain slices into soldiers and add to the salad. Drizzle the dressing on the salad, sprinkle the bacon bits over and then snip the cress onto the top.
Finally use a potato peeler to shave over a little extra parmesan.
Tuck in!
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