Chicken & asparagus salad, with the saltiness of bacon and served warm with Jersey Royals. A hearty salad that’s a meal on its own.
Chicken and asparagus salad is one of my all time favourite salads. In fact this particular chicken & asparagus salad is the first thing I think about cooking when the new season’s asparagus hits our shelves. I first enjoyed this salad many years ago in a restaurant that was close to where I lived at the time. A dish I truly love to eat and therefore one I needed to recreate at home.
That’s the thing, salad is a truly wonder thing, when done well! We love the freshness of a salad. While our hearts are seeking the freshness of spring/summer food, the weather is not cooperating! So with two of our favourite ingredients available on the shop shelves at the moment, Jersey Royals and new season asparagus, it was about time to post this recipe. Incorporating these flavours into a salad dish, reminding us that Summer is on the way. This warm salad is very simple and quick to prepare, but with a few good ingredients tastes amazing. We like to serve this with the simplest of French vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette:
When done well salad is a truly wonderful thing to eat. Good salad should always hero the freshness of the vegetables, with the vegetables taking centre stage. Two things ruin a good salad, firstly when you can’t taste the actual vegetable ingredients, because they’ve been overpowered by one ingredient. Secondly, the lack of a proper salad dressing, nobody enjoys undressed salad. A good vinaigrette is simple to make and can really lift a salad. This recipe includes a traditional style French vinaigrette. To keep things simple, the ingredients for the vinaigrette are placed in a jam jar (chose one with a tight-fitting lid). When ready, place the lid on the jam jar, ensuring it is secure and give the salad dressing a good shake. This is a great way to make most salad dressings, and this quick method means leftover dressing can be easily stored in the fridge for later.
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Additional recipe suggestions:
If you like this recipe then try some of our other salads, our Ham, Fig & Blue Cheese Salad or our Chicken Salad with Harissa Dressing.
Chicken & Asparagus Salad
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts - diced
- 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - crushed
- 9 Jersey Royal potatoes - cut into bite-sized pieces
- 100 g asparagus
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 heads of little gem lettuce - washed and leaves left whole
Vinaigrette
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water and cook till tender. Drain and set aside until ready to plate.
- Heat up a non-stick frying pan and place the bacon in it, keep moving the bacon until you get a good colour on it, but taking care not to burn. Once crisp pull the bacon to the sides of the pan and add the sunflower oil.
- Heat the oil and add the chicken to brown. Once the chicken has sealed combine with the bacon and add the garlic, cook together gently over a medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.
- Heat a char-grill pan and toss the asparagus into it. Take care to char the asparagus but not to burn it.
- Place all the ingredients for the vinaigrette into a clean jam jar and secure the lid. Share vigorously to combine and then check for seasoning.
- Once all components are ready, place the lettuce in a bowl, top with the chicken and bacon mixture, then the potatoes. Finally place over the grilled asparagus and drizzle with the vinaigrette.
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