Tag: lunch

Anjum Anand’s Grilled Chopped Chicken Salad

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 2

I’ve slightly adapted this salad to fill it out for two, though the essence is the same.

And that is just a wonderful, healthy, Indian salad perfect for New Year’s Day: where in 2025, the Champagne had to continue.

Right?

The sprinkled Chaat Masala with the roast and ground cumin seeds is your spice. I deseeded the chilli though that is your call.

I also cooked the chicken breasts over charcoal.

Add that lemon, plenty of olive oil and more Champagne and this was a blast of a salad.

Fun. Tasty. Spicy. Perfect to start the new year.

Perfect for a Sydney summer.

More Champagne? Yes thank you.

Another Anjum Anand success.

Ingredients

1 large chicken breast
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus extra to serve
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large garlic clove, finely grated
1 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds
Good fistful of coriander (stems and leaves), finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 medium tomato, cut into 1cm cubes
1 ripe avocado, cut into 1cm cubes
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
Two good handfuls of chopped lettuce*
1 1/2 tsp chaat masala
1/2 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
2 tbsp salted peanuts, lightly chopped

Method

  1. Marinate the chicken in 1 tbsp olive oil, seasoning and garlic for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Heat a griddle pan, add the chicken breast and cook for 5 – 6 minutes each side until done.
  3. Meanwhile, mix together the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, more seasoning, roast cumin and a little of the lemon juice and coriander.
  4. Place the tomato, avocado, onion and lettuce in a bowl. Add the chaat masala, chilli and most of the dressing and toss. Taste, season and add more lemon juice as necessary.
  5. Thinly slice the cooked chicken and place on top of the salad, drizzle with the remaining dressing, coriander and peanuts. Drizzle with more olive oil and serve… with Champagne.

* Nat has a ban on iceberg lettuce in our house on account of its nutritional deficiency. Though we served these Neil Perry Prawn Cocktails as part of a Christmas Eve dinner and we had iceberg lettuce left over.

We both agreed, this was the way to go. It’s New Year’s Day and the feeling was right. Go the iceberg.

Matty Matheson’s Sichuan Chilli Oil Smashed Cucumber with Soy-Cured Egg (Salad)

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

As Matty Matheson says it:

This is just one of the best things ever. The textures and tastes set you up for a perfect meal. Normally, smashed cucumbers are often served simply as a side to just nibble on while you’re waiting for noodles or dumplings to come out. I think this treatment takes the cucumbers to more of comprehensive dish. This is so refreshing. The soy eggs are just Banana Town. Since we’re making a cookbook, we could make something like this a main event. I’m so hyped on this salad, and I know this will be a staple for you and your family or friends, or maybe your lover

This is a sophisticated Asian salad, no doubt.

The black vinegar chilli crisp dressing is sensational and I’ve prepared it separately for different salads of rocket, avocado and poached green beans with great effect.

The soy sauce eggs are the lux element. This shows effort and it won’t go unnoticed.

Christmas is the time for salad and winding down.

This salad is worth every bit of effort.

And save that dressing on its own. Chilli crisp is brilliant.

(There are 5 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds in total here: just a pre-warning.)

(And the eggs need no less than 6 hours resting and ideally overnight.)

Ingredients

Soy Sauce Egges

6 eggs
1/2 c water
1 c soy sauce
3/4 c mirin

Cucumber Salad

2 English cucumbers, cut into 6cm strips*
Salt
1/2 red onion, sliced as thinly as possible
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
1/2 bunch spring onions, chopped
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Black Vinegar Chilli Crisp Dressing

1/4 c chilli crisp**
2 tbsp black vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Zest and juice of 1 lime
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 small knob ginger, grated
2 tbsp grapeseed oil

Method

  1. Starting with the soy sauce eggs: bring a large pot of water to the boil and carefully lower each egg into the pot and set your timer for 6 minutes. Transfer the eggs to an ice bath until they get cold, then peel them.
  2. To marinate the eggs, place a Ziplock bag in a small bowl. Fill it with the water, soy sauce and mirin, add the eggs and squeeze out the air to ensure the eggs are fully covered by the soy mixture. Seal and store in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours and ideally a day.
  3. When you are ready to make the salad, get ready to smash the cucumbers. Lay them out on a chopping board and smash them with the bottom of a pot. Transfer them to a strainer set over a bowl, generously salt them and place them in the fridge for 30 minutes: when done, press them with paper towels to remove all the moisture you can.
  4. In a large bowl, mix the red onion, coriander and spring onions.
  5. Make the dressing by combining all of the dressing ingredients and combine/shake well.
  6. Carefully remove the soy eggs from their bath and break them up gently with your hands. Be artful.
  7. When you’re ready to serve, get a large platter out. First put down the smashed cucumber. Toss with the dressing. Top with the broken up soy eggs. Add the coriander, onion and spring onions and top with the sesame seeds.

* I used Lebanese. There are apparently 100 varieties of cucumber in the world and whilst they vary (seedless vs non-seedless, thicker vs thinner skin), I lost no sleep over this.

** I cannot – cannot – overemphasis the need to find this which isn’t hard. The substitute is not jarred chilli or chilli oil. In fact, even the best substitute suggestions on Google are lukewarm and suggest you get off your arse.

Vefa Alexiadou’s Easy Cheese Appetizer (Tiromezes)

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

If ever there was a correlation between simplicity and brilliance, this is it.

Cooked by Nat as a starter to a long, Christmas, Greek lunch, we both agreed that this appetizer was just “stunning”.

If you’ve read my blog, you’ll know I am into my superlatives: though hand-on-heart, this dish is stunning.

I followed up with this Arni Pesto accompanied by a wicked mushroom pilaf by Nat and with Champagne, the sun and the holidays starting, this was a lunch to celebrate.

Ingredients

4 square, thick slices feta cheese
1 large tomato, cut into 4 rounds
1 long green chilli, thinly sliced
Pinch of dried oregano
Pepper
Olive oil, for drizzling

Method

  1. Preheat the broiler (grill).
  2. Put the cheese slices side-by-side in a shallow flameproof dish. Put a tomato slice on top of each feta square and top with the slices of chilli. Sprinkle with oregano and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.
  3. Cook under the broiler for 6 – 8 minutes until the chilli and tomato are lightly browned.
  4. Serve immediately: ideally with a delicious ouzo apparently. We had none, though if you do, please tell me. I actually get it. Reminds me of Oysters Charentaise where you have an oyster, a bite of a spicy sausage and a good sip of cold, white wine: heaven.