Salad daze: Spring chicken salads to see you through to summer

Ahhh summer. The days are long, the parties more fun and the food more vibrant. If ever there was a time to celebrate all these things, it is now. And the following dishes are exactly that. Fun, fresh and truly flavoursome. Summer may be still a month away, but we're counting down.

Chicken parmigiana salad

Parmy. But make it a salad. I am addicted to converting all foods where possible to a salad – you can throw a bit of excellent green leaf at anything and morph it into one that is equally spectacular to the original. Case in point.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tbsp milk
• 2 eggs
• about 1 cup plain flour for dredging
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
• rice bran oil, for frying
• 4 x 1cm-thick slices of mozzarella (taken from a ball of mozzarella)
• ½ tbsp chilli flakes
• ½ tbsp dried oregano

Sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 200g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar (or to taste, depending on sweetness of sauce)
• salt and pepper to season

Salad

• 2 avocados, hulled and sliced
• 500g medley tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup loosely packed herbs such as basil, oregano and flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• small handful baby kale leaves, coarsely torn

Parmesan crisps

• ¾ cup finely grated parmesan (I used a Microplane)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
2. For the sauce, add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and place over low heat. Simmer for 20 minutes while you prepare the remaining elements, stirring occasionally to prevent catching.
3. Make the parmesan crisps by lining a baking tray with baking paper. Spread the grated parmesan into rough circles, about the size of a coffee mug in a thin layer. Don't worry to much about the shape as much as trying to have a relatively even scattering of cheese so they cook evenly. Pop in the oven and cook until golden, between 5 and 10 minutes. Set aside to cool on the tray.
4. Unfold the chicken thighs so they are laid flat on a chopping board and use a meat mallet to flatten. As a general guide you want them to look half the thickness of what they did before you took to them with a mallet.
5. Make a dredging station: Combine the milk, eggs, garlic and onion powders in a large shallow bowl, giving them a quick whisk with a fork to combine. Place flour in another bowl and the panko in a third bowl.
6. Dredge thighs in flour, knocking off excess, then dip into egg wash, letting excess drip back into bowl. Dredge in panko, pressing firmly to adhere, ensuring no part of the chicken is bare. Gently shake off excess and return to the chopping board.
7. Place a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to be 2cm deep, and once the oil is hot and shimmering, add the chicken thighs, making sure you don't overcrowd the pan (you may need to fry the chicken in batches). Cook until the exterior is crisp and golden, about 1 minute, then turn and cook for an additional minute.
8. While the chicken is frying, pour the sauce into the base of a baking dish. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and top each piece with a slice of mozzarella, and sprinkle over the chilli flakes and oregano.
9. Pop in the oven and cook until the mozzarella has melted and is looking golden in spots, about 5-10 minutes, any longer than this and you risk overcooking the chicken.
10. Remove from the oven and set aside while you add all the salad ingredients to a bowl and give them a quick toss to incorporate. Make a well in the centre of your salad bowl and scoop as much of the sauce remaining in the baking dish into the centre, this will act like a dressing for the salad. Carefully slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces, as it will still be hot, and place on top. Scatter over parmesan crisps, season with salt and pepper and serve warm.

Serves 4

Poached chicken, broad bean and zucchini flower salad with honey-feta dressing and all the herbs

This is all the green and glorious parts of spring and summer in a single bowl. It is fresh but so filling with the addition of some fingerling potatoes and a dressing that is equal parts tang, richness and sweet. Given all the soft herbs and leaves in this salad, it is best eaten shortly after making. You can prepare the chicken and the dressing ahead and assemble just before serving.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g fingerling potatoes
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• enough chicken stock to cover (about 2 cups)

Salad

• 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1 cup soft herbs, such as dill, basil, flat leaf parsley, oregano, roughly chopped
• 8 small zucchini flowers, stamen removed and petals coarsely torn, small stems reserved
• 2 tsp olive oil
• ½ cup podded broad beans
• peas from 1 cup sugar snap peas

Dressing

• juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup feta
• 3 tbsp honey
• ½ cup smoked almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

METHOD

1. Add the potatoes to a large pot of boiling water and cook for 15 minutes or until just cooked – you want to be able to pierce them with a knife but meet some resistance. Strain and allow to cool before cutting into halves, in a mix of horizontal and lengthways.
2. Add the chicken breasts to a medium saucepan and pour over the stock to generously cover. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for another 3-5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat completely and let the chicken steep in the liquid until the liquid has slightly cooled, about 10 minutes.
3. Strain the chicken and tear it into pieces using a couple of forks. Add to a large bowl with the spinach, soft herbs, zucchini flowers and cooked potatoes, tossing gently to combine.
4. Add the olive oil to a frying pan over medium heat. Add the broad beans, small zucchini stems and the peas. Cook for one minute until vibrantly green, remove from heat and add to the salad.
5. For the dressing, add all ingredients to the same frypan and place over very low heat. Cook very briefly – you want the feta to melt into the dressing, but you don't want to burn the honey. Remove and pour over the salad. Season very generously with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. This salad is best served straight away.

Serves 4 generously

Gochujang roast chicken and rice salad

So, this is not the normal way to roast a chook but the searing initial high heat gives a brilliant char to the gochujang-coated chicken, and the longer cook at a lower temperature makes for melt-in-your-mouth soft meat. You can pre-cook the chicken and pop it in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the salad. I find adding about half the chicken to the salad works well, and save the remainder for all manner of other meals.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 organic chicken (about 1.2kg)

Marinade

• 6 tbsp gochujang paste
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• generous ½ cup rice bran oil or other flavourless oil

Salad

• 2 radishes, finely sliced
• 1 cup podded edamame beans, steamed (follow packet directions)
• 2 lengths broccolini, blanched and refreshed, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• small bunch coriander, roughly torn
• 2 cups cooked basmatic rice

Salad dressing

• 1-2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp gochujang paste (or to taste)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 200C fan-forced (220C conventional).
• Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl then spread over your chicken in a baking tray. Pop in the oven and roast for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 150C (170C conventional) and cook for 2.5 hours. When you pull on the legs, they should really easily jiggle, meaning the meat is fall-apart tender. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the salad.
• Combine the salad ingredients in a bowl and use your hands to toss together. Mix together the sesame oil and gochujang paste in a small bowl, and add to the salad and toss again. Using your hands, gently tear the chicken into the salad – you can use all or some of the meat. I tend to find using about half the chicken (if you used an average-sized chicken to begin with) works well, and save the remainder for all manner of other meals.
• Season with more sesame oil and/or gochujang paste as desired and serve.

Serves 4-6

Buttermilk crisp chicken and crunchy salad with sriracha mayo dressing

Can we please bring back the iceberg? It got pushed to the side when rocket first came to town (remember alllll the rocket and toasted pine nut salads?) and then the love of kale that will not end (also guilty!). But really, it's a wondrous leaf – it can act as a vessel to carry food directly from plate to mouth like no other can, and there is little else on this planet you can eat that distinctly feels like you are eating water.

This guy is heavy on the avocados, you can pare back or increase as you see fit. Its creaminess pairs like a dream with the chicken and the crispness of the iceberg. You can also serve the dressing in a jug on the side so people can help themselves.

Adding the chicken to the buttermilk results in the most wondrous end result. The buttermilk tenderises the chicken and for best results, pop in the fridge overnight, but even a few hours in the brine are better than none at all, and is a step worth preserving for the best soft meat, crisp exterior chicken.

INGREDIENTS

Dressing

• ¼ cup smoky barbecue sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• ¾ cup Kewpie mayonnaise
• 3 tsp sriracha sauce (or more to taste)

Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts
• 300ml buttermilk
• 3 cups panko breadcrumbs
• ¼-½ cup rice bran oil

Salad

• ½ an iceberg lettuce, leaves pulled, coarsely torn
• 1 cup mixed herbs, such as basil, dill, oregano and flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 avocados, hulled and sliced
• 2 radishes, very thinly sliced

Method

1. To make the sriracha mayo dressing, whisk the ingredients in a bowl to combine. Taste and adjust the sriracha according to your chilli tolerance.
2. Working one at a time, place a chicken breast on a cutting board so a short side is towards you. Holding a chef's knife parallel to the breast, slice horizontally along the centre of a long side to make a slit. Continue to slice until you are about 1cm from the other side. Open the breast up like a book and place between 2 sheets of baking paper or plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or a rolling pin, pound until the chicken is 2 centimetres thick. This even thickness will help prevent over- and under-cooking the chicken in spots. Repeat with the second chicken breast.
3. Combine the buttermilk and ¼ cup dressing in a large bowl. Add the butterflied chicken pieces and submerge for 20 minutes, 2 hours, or even overnight, if you have the forward planning gene.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
5. Working one piece at a time, shake the chicken from the excess buttermilk marinade and then add to a large shallow bowl of the panko crumbs. Pat to cover both sides entirely in panko crumbs. Complete with remaining chicken.
6. Place a large ovenproof frypan over high heat. Add the oil and once hot and shimmering, add the chicken and cook until golden on one side, it should take 1-2 minutes. Flip the chicken then pop the pan into the oven. (This enables the chicken to cook through while reducing your risk of burning the crumbed exterior.) Leave in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and place chicken on a cutting board. Allow to cool before slicing into 2cm thick slices.
7. Combine the salad ingredients in a bowl, add the crisp chicken pieces and gently toss together. Drizzle over the dressing and season generously with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6