Recipe: Easy Chicken Salad | FOOD

As I write this, we’re in the middle of the UK wide lockdown relating to coronavirus or covid-19 as it’s scientifically known as. This means that many of us are suddenly working from home and although the odd day is seen as a treat, permanently working from home is a completely different ball game. I’m finding that I’m suddenly much less active everyday so I’m trying to eat healthier to balance it out and this easy chicken salad is perfect for lunchtime. It’s really quick to prepare in a lunch break and light enough to avoid the afternoon slump. Salads can be so much fun because you can throw anything in but I usually follow the rule of salad leaves as a base, a grain, a protein and any veggies you’ve got in.

For your grain, you can choose from rice, cous cous, bulgur wheat or quinoa. Here I’m using bulgur wheat which is high in protein and super easy to make; stick it in a bowl and cover it with boiling water from the kettle with a stock cube. Pop a plate over the top or some cling film and leave it to soak up all of the water for 20 minutes before fluffing it up. I nearly always choose to have chicken in mine but crispy bacon also works well. For veggies and greens, I like to have some red pepper and cucumber for crunchiness. Colour is critical in a salad and the pepper and cucumber provide vibrant colour. I often like to throw in some sliced avocado if I have any in or some chopped nuts, both which provide saturated fats (which is the good fat). I usually finish by sprinkling over some seeds and some balsamic vinegar as a dressing et voila! A super quick and tasty salad, easy to whip up in a lunch break.

Keep scrolling for the recipe!

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Chicken Salad – The Recipe

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

1 chicken breast

2 tbsp Nando’s Smokey BBQ Peri-Peri rub

50g Bulgur wheat

1 chicken stock cube

A handful of salad leaves

Half a red pepper, chopped into small chunks

20g cucumber, chopped into small chunks

A drizzle of olive oil

A drizzle of balsamic vinegar

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade
2. Cover the chicken in the nandos rub and cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through
3. Boil the kettle and place the bulgur wheat in a bowl with a crumbled oxo cube
4. Cover the bulgur wheat with hot water and cover with a plate or cling film for 30 minutes
5. Slice the chicken on a chopping board
6. Add the salad leaves to the bowl, covering half of the bottom
7. Add the fluffy bulgur wheat next to the salad leaves
8. Add the chicken to the bowl next to the bulgur wheat
9. Add the red pepper and cucumber to the bowl
10. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

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What do you like to add to your chicken salad?

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