Go Back

Grilled Chicken Salad with Roasted Peppers, Baby Spinach and Fig Vinaigrette

Servings: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients 

Grilled Chicken

  • 500 g chicken breast
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp paprika powder
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper powder
  • 2 tsp nigella seeds

Dressing

  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1-2 tbsp fig preserve or raspberry jam
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

Salad

  • 2 orange or red capsicum, quartered
  • olive oil
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3-4 cups baby spinach or baby rocket for a spicy flavou, washed and dried
  • ¼ cup soft feta cheese, crumbled
  • ⅓ cup pine nuts

Instructions

  • Preheat oven at 200°C.
  • To make the grilled chicken, first marinate the chicken in yoghurt, turmeric powder, paprika powder, minced garlic, salt and black pepper powder. Leave for 20 minutes or overnight.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the capsicum for the salad. Place the capsicum pieces on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, store in an airtight container until cooled, then peel and cut into thin slices.
  • In a medium-sized pan, heat a little olive oil on high heat and cook the chicken for 2 minutes on one side. Flip the chicken breast and cook for an additional minute. Cover the pan, lower the heat and allow the chicken breast to cook for another 10 minutes. Add the nigella seeds and toss to coat the chicken. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken to rest for 10 minutes. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes, then slice and keep aside.
  • To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, honey, fig preserve, sea salt and pepper until they have emulsified.
  • To assemble the salad, toss the roasted capsicum, baby spinach and feta cheese with a couple of tablespoons of salad dressing. Serve on a large platter, layer the chicken on top and garnish with toasted pine nuts and feta cheese.

Notes

TIPS:
  • You can store the extra salad dressing in the fridge for up to a week.
  • Alternatively this salad can be used as filling for a wrap. For this, layer some baby spinach, a couple of strips of roasted capsicum, a drizzle of the fig vinaigrette, some chicken strips and little roasted pine nuts in the centre of a tortilla wrap. Fold the base of the wrap a couple of inches up and fold each side over to the centre so that they overlap. The same quantity makes up to 12 small wraps.