Chicken salad with quinoa, grapes, basil and verjuice

Name: Chicken salad with quinoa, grapes, basil and verjuice
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 6 min
Ingredients: 2 cloves Garlic, crushed; 1 cup Quinoa; 3 cups Basil leaves, washed and picked; 60 ml Olive oil; 4 Free-range chicken breasts, (or one whole free-range chicken, jointed); 100 ml Extra virgin olive oil; 100 ml Verjuice; 3 cups Seedless grapes, halved; 4 cups Baby lettuce leaves

6 min

Bevan Smith

Riverstone Kitchen chef/owner and food writer.

VIEW PROFILE

A light refreshing salad that is a breeze to knock together.

Ingredients

2 cloves	Garlic, crushed
1 cup	Quinoa
3 cups	Basil leaves, washed and picked
60 ml	Olive oil
4	Free-range chicken breasts, (or one whole free-range chicken, jointed)
100 ml	Extra virgin olive oil
100 ml	Verjuice
3 cups	Seedless grapes, halved
4 cups	Baby lettuce leaves

Directions

Rinse quinoa with cold running water through a fine sieve. Place into a small saucepan with 2 cups of water and bring to the boil over a high heat.
Turn off heat and place lid on pot and allow to steam for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Reserve for further use.
Heat oven to 200C.
Place half a teaspoon of salt, half of the garlic and half a cup of basil into a mortar and grind to a paste.
Add 30ml olive oil and mix in. Spread paste under skin of the chicken and season chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place skin side down into a hot, heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan with the remaining 30ml of olive oil.
Fry until skin turns a golden brown then place into oven and roast for 5 to 6 minutes or until almost cooked.
Carefully remove from oven and allow to rest, skin side up. The heat remaining in the frying pan will continue the cooking process.
In a separate saucepan, gently warm extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat.
Add remaining garlic and cook for 30 seconds without colouring before adding verjuice and grapes. Remove from heat and add any resting juices from the chicken to the pan.
Place lettuce and basil into a large bowl with quinoa. Carve chicken and add to the bowl with the lettuce basil and quinoa.
Toss together with the verjuice and grape dressing, season to taste and divide between 4 plates. Serve immediately.