My trick for the ultimate flavour with this salad is to cook the bacon on a rack in the oven, with the chicken breasts on a tray underneath, so the bacon fat drips onto the chicken. The tomatoes are also lightly roasted in the oven.
All served up on a bed of lettuce with some jammy soft-boiled eggs.
It’s finished with a drizzle of simple honey mustard dressing.
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I’ve always been a believer that salads shouldn’t be tarred with the ‘diet food’ brush. It’s very easy to think of salads as being something that’s served on the side of your real dinner, or a lunch that leaves you feeling slightly depressed.
No more!!
I love a good salad. And by good salad, I mean one that has all the lovely crunchy greens, but also has the satiating, exciting elements that make you look forward to eating it. We’re talking crispy bacon, spicy noodles, crumbled cheese, crunchy croutons and lip-smacking dressings.
I’ve actually got a whole book devoted to them that came out back in 2019 called Seriously Good Salads, and this is one of the recipes from that book.
How to make it (overview)
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- We start be seasoning the chicken in cooking it in the oven with a tray for the bacon on top. This is so that lovely, flavourful bacon fat drips down onto the chicken as it’s cooking.
- The tomatoes are also oven baked for 10-15 minutes – so they just warmed and a little bit tender.
- While the oven is doing its thing, we soft-boil the eggs (about 6 minutes for nice jammy centres), then cool them in icy water and peel them.
- Now we slice up the chicken, bacon and the eggs and serve them on a bed of crispy lettuce and pea shoots. I like to add thinly sliced red onion and parmesan on top too.
- Serve with my simple honey mustard dressing (also in the recipe card below).
👩🍳PRO TIP Give the bottom of the eggs a little tap on the work surface before boiling. You don’t want to break the shell, but you should hear a slight snap. This is the membrane separating from the egg shell – which should make it easier to peel once cooked.
And there we have a filling and tasty salad – perfect for dinner.
You can serve it up in a big bowl like this – so everyone can dish it out for themselves. Or serve up in individual bowls (which helps prevent the first person stealing all the bacon – happens every time).
🍲 More fantastic Salad recipes
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BLT Chicken Salad
My trick for the ultimate flavour with this BLT chicken salad is to cook the bacon on a rack in the oven, with the chicken breasts on a tray underneath, so the bacon fat drips onto the chicken.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (fan).
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Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place a wire rack over the chicken, and add the bacon in a single layer (so the juices from the bacon drip onto the chicken).
3 chicken breasts, 1 tbsp olive oil, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
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Bake for 15 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp. Remove the wire rack and the bacon, and set aside the bacon to cool.
8 strips streaky bacon
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Add the tomatoes to the chicken. Spoon any oil in the bottom of the tray over the tomatoes and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the tray back in the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is browned and no longer pink in the middle.
12 cherry (grape) tomatoes
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Meanwhile, place the eggs in a pan of cold water, so the water is just covering them. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 6 minutes—this will give them a slightly runny center; cook for 3 minutes more for firmer center. Turn off the heat and transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water. Let cool for 5 minutes, then carefully roll the eggs on a work surface to break the shells. Peel off the shells and slice the eggs in half.
4 large eggs
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Place the cooked chicken on a cutting board and cut into bite-size pieces. Slice the bacon into 2.5cm (1-inch) pieces.
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In a small bowl, stir together all the dressing ingredients.
60 ml ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tsp white wine vinegar, 3 tbsp honey, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, Pinch of salt, Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
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In a large serving bowl, arrange the lettuce and pea shoots. Top with the chicken, bacon, roasted tomatoes, eggs and red onion slices.
1 head iceberg lettuce, 20 g 1 packed cup pea shoots, ½ small red onion
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Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve with the dressing.
2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
✎ Notes
Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (this recipe serves 4).
Nutrition
Calories: 687kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 50gFat: 44gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 303mgSodium: 789mgPotassium: 1116mgFiber: 2gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 1275IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 3mg
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