Warm Chicken Salad With Chili and Spinach

It’s freezing cold outside here in Baltimore and, against all our wishes, we are all trapped in our homes for fear of losing digits if exposed to the elements.  One of the problems with being stuck inside is that boredom can lead to snacking and the snacks one eats when bored are not generally good for losing weight.  For that reason, it takes some thought and planning to find meals that will keep you warm and keep you healthy.  The key to staying in control is a small amount of forethought and a bit of determination.  To help you my wife found this gem of a recipe which is both nutritionally balanced in the right way (high protein, low carbs), easy to make, and a bit spicy to warm you up on the inside.  In fact, this recipe in my opinion has too few calories per serving as posted on their blog.  I would recommend having it serve one or two people and will calculate the nutrition facts as such.  The spicy part is optional for those of you who have tender taste buds.  This one comes from foodmanna.net so give them some love and check out their other recipes. Enjoy!

Per serving (serves 2):

Calories – 268; Protein – 26 g; Carbs – 4 g; Fat – 17g

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (6 oz each) (brined)
1 whole garlic, skin on broken into individual clove
1 small onion thinly sliced
2 handful cherry tomatoes, halves
1 bunch of tarragon or any other herbs
2 red chillies (optional)
Handful of baby corn
Baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for cooking the chicken breast
Fruity extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Method

Prepare a salt water bath for the chicken breasts.  No specific measurement, just make sure the chicken breast are fully covered with the brine.  Add salt to the water until you find it very salty. Let the chicken breast sit in the brine for half and hour to an hour. Rinse off the brine and you are ready to use as per normal.

Rinse the chicken from the brine and pat dry with kitchen paper. Lay a layer of wax/greaseproof paper on a chopping board, large enough to lay out the chicken breast.. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts and sprinkle evenly the chopped herbs on both sides. Cover the top with another layer of wax/greaseproof paper. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with your fist or the handle of a knife.

Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil and swirl the pan. Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts and the garlic cloves and onions Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side. Then flip each chicken breast over. Now add the cherry tomatoes, baby corn and chili. Let it cook for another 5 mins. Mixing the vegetable around for even cooking. Push the vegetables to one side and flip the chicken again and cook for another 2 mins. Doublecheck them to make sure there is no pink in the middle then remove the chicken breast and let it rest on a bowl.

Sauté the vegetable until cook. Turn of heat. Now the garlic should be soft enough.  Press them out and discard the skin.

Lay baby spinach a large serving plate, tip the warm vegetable over, sliced the chicken breast at a diagonally thinly and lay on top of the salad. Pour over the chicken juices collected from the resting bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin oil and fresh pepper.