If you want to try out something completely different, you should try out this summer rhubarb chicken salad. Tangy, sweet, and savory at the same time, this salad is sure to impress.
One of the best things about cooking is to experiment with food. To try out different flavors, herbs, and vegetables and see what you can create. Sometimes it goes wrong, sometimes it works ok, but sometimes it’s the jackpot.
Rhubarb in a salad, you might think? Yeah, I thought so, too, at first. But it works well, and it adds a nice tanginess to the dish and crunch. The most important part, though, is not to overdo it. Am I sure you’ve had raw rhubarb? It’s just a bit too much. But a little bit goes a long way, they say. And that saying applies to this recipe.
The mixed green beans in this salad also add that special summer touch to the dish. Think haricot verts, long green beans, sugar snaps. Fresh beans are so lush and crunchy and are an excellent addition to a salad. They add something special. Like a taste of summer?
Beans are also a good source of fiber and the B-vitamin folate needed to create red blood cells. Red blood cells primary task in the body is to transport oxygen to all the cells so that you can feel alert and energized.
The dressing in this salad is the cherry on the cake. It’s a honey and mint dressing, which rounds of the tanginess of the salad and brings all the flavors together.
So this salad has a nice balance between sweet, sour, and salty.
Poached shredded chicken is used in this recipe (really into it right now, it’s so moist, and the poached chicken takes on the flavours used in any recipe), but grilled chicken works as well too! Or if you want to make it vegetarian, I’m sure that white beans would work exceptionally well.
Rhubarb is something I never really used to care for much before but is something I’ve lately really been digging. Like there are loads of things you can make with it. You have the classics like rhubarb crumble, rhubarb compote, and all the other sweet stuff, but you can also use it to make a rhubarb BBQ sauce, rhubarb chutney, and rhubarb salsa, to name a few!
Ingredients
- 320 g Italian flat green beans
- 160 g haricot vert
- Two chicken breasts
- 100 g rhubarb
mint & honey dressing
- A handful 1/2 cup chopped mint mint
- 60 ml 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- 60 ml 1/4 cup oil
- salt & pepper
- 1-2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Use either cooked chicken, or poach your chicken by bringing a pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, lower the temperature, so the water is on a low simmer, cooking the chicken breasts for15 minutes, or until the inner temperature is 72° or no longer pink. Set aside and let cool.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the beans for around 4 minutes, or until tender*. Once tender, drain them straight away and refresh in cold water. Set aside.
- Slice the rhubarb into thin slices.
- mint & honey dressing
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.
- Assemble the salad by combining all elements in a bowl, and pour the sauce over.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
