Easy Summer Salads, Lighter Foods For A Brighter Summer

Easy Summer Salads, Lighter Foods For A Brighter Summer
By Sukhjeet Kaur

Easy summer salads are the way to go, now that the winter blues
are fading into the distance and salad days are here. The best
salads are light, bright and easy to prepare. 

After all who wants to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen
when friends are round for lunch, the garden is in bloom and the
wine is chilled and ready to pour. But before you start to cook
you save a lot of energy by buying the right ingredients for a
simple salad. That way you don’t need the heavy bottled sauces
and dressings to make a great flavor 

Do you really want to take a beautiful crisp summer salad and
soak it in a mixture of fat, sugar, salt and chemicals? If you
start off with great food and don’t do too much to it you don’t
need all these strong tastes as you still have great food. 

All you need is to combine it well so that the flavors work
together, have a nice crunchy texture and add a little light
dressing to set it all off, and let the taste buds do the rest
Freshness is, as in all cooking, the way to a good salad. Don’t
take what the supermarkets give you. Although it’s easier to
pick up the ready packed tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, bell
peppers etc. 

To make sure you get the best, take a minute or two and pick
over the vegetables, choose what is firm ripe and ready to use.
The same of course applies with meat and fish. There is a reason
why supermarkets prepackage, and it’s not always convenience. So
choose well, cook quickly and simply and your friends won’t have
finished the wine by the time you get there! Enjoy a little bit
of summer now with this easy poached chicken salad. 

Easy poached chicken salad 

Ingredients: 

4 chicken breasts (skinless) 

1 finely sliced red onion 

1 whole half onion 

4 good ripe tomatoes sliced thickly 

250 grams/4ozs salad leaves mixed 

4ozs raisins soaked in hot water for ten minutes 

1 half lemon 

2 fresh or dry bay leaves 

1-teaspoon peppercorns black 

1 small French, stick loaf or similar sliced into 1/2 slices 

For the dressing: 

1/4 cup olive oil 
1clove garlic crushed 

1/2 dessert spoon Dijon or other mild mustard 

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
To make the dressing, whisk the vinegar and mustard together
with the garlic, slowly add the olive oil while whisking and
season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Bring a pan of water to the boil with the bay leaves, 1/2 white
onion, lemon and peppercorns. 
Carefully add the chicken and simmer gently until cooked, if
you unsure it is worth investing a few dollars in a meat
thermometer. The temperature should be at least 75 celcius/167
Fahrenheit, put the sliced bread on a baking tray and drizzle
with the olive oil and season with salt. 

Bake in a medium oven until crisp but soft in the middle. Mix
the leaves together with the onions and raisins. Turn in the
salad dressing and put into 4 good-sized bowls. Place slices of
tomato and bread around the edge. Slice the warm chicken at an
angle and put attractively on top off the salad. Sit back, enjoy
and get someone else to do the washing up.

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