By Natalie Coleman, Masterchef Winner 2013

Chargrilled Chicken Salad with Tarragon Dressing and Croutons

Chargrilled Chicken Salad with Tarragon Dressing and Croutons

This is one of my own creations that is perfect for a summer's day. Chicken and tarragon are a marriage made in heaven and the result is a very light, refreshing and vibrant tasting dish. You could use this dressing on other salads too and it also works very well accompanied with with fish or goats cheese.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

  • 150g Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise
  • 100ml Natural Yoghurt
  • 100g Crème Fraiche
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • ½ tbsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 tsp White Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Dried Tarragon
  • 3 tbsp Fresh finely chopped Tarragon
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
  • Pinch of salt

For the Chicken:

  • 4 Chicken breasts - Skin removed
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • Salt

For the croutons:

  • 1 Small Baguette
  • 1 Sprig of Rosemary
  • Olive Oil
  • Sea Salt
  • 200g Mixed leaf salad (Rocket/Frisse/Lollo Rosso)

Method:

  1. Preheat Oven to 180c

For the dressing:

  1. Place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk until incorporated and smooth. Set to one side until ready to plate

For the croutons:

  1. Cut the baguette into 2 cm cubes and place onto a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and scatter over the leaves from one sprig of rosemary. Season with sea salt and cook for 6-8 mins until golden and crunchy.
  2. Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside to cool down. Set aside until ready to serve

For the chicken:

  1. Heat a large griddle pan until smoking. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle over the oil.
  2. Using tongs place the chicken onto the griddle pan. Sear for 2-3mins on each side until you get char marks then place into the oven for 7-10mins until cooked all the way through.
  3. Remove from the oven then slice thinly and set aside until ready to plate

To plate:

  1. Place the salad in a mixing bowl and dress with ¾'s of the dressing. Toss well. Arrange the salad between four plates.
  2. Divide the chicken between the plates and drizzle over the remaining dressing. Finish with the croutons and serve straight away.

Recipe courtesy of Heinz.

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