Summery Salad!

Summer has finally arrived to Wellington!  It is very uplifting to finally have some warmth and sunshine after months (and months) of rain and cold wind.

The herbs in my garden have grown exponentially in the last week and after a particularly warm day yesterday (actually it was only around 20 degrees Celsius but that's enough to break out the jandels around here) I had a craving for a refreshing, herby, chicken salad... with a refreshing glass of Sauv to go with it of course!

  Herby Chicken and Asparagus Salad
400g chicken breast
2 large lemons
2 garlic cloves
1 small green chilli


Slice the chicken into strips.  Finely chop two of the garlic cloves and the chilli and stir through the chicken along with the juice of two lemons.  Set aside to marinade.

Dressing
1/4 c chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 c chopped fresh coriander
1 clove garlic

2 T capers roughly chopped

1 large lemon
1-2 limes (or bottled lime juice)
2-3 T olive oil
1 t sugar


Finely chopped garlic.  Squeeze the lemon and then add equal parts of lime juice (I used bottled lime juice) and olive oil (so the lemon/lime/oil ratio should be 1:1:1).  Combine the herbs, garlic, capers and juice/oil and add the sugar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Salad
1 bunch asparagus
Mix of fresh salad leaves
1 avocado sliced
1/4 red onion finely sliced


Blanch asparagus in boiling water for 1-2 minutes until tender and then refresh under cold water to stop overcooking.  Blot dry with paper towels and cut on the bias into 1-2 inch pieces.  Fry chicked until brown and just cooked, allow to cool.  Meanwhile, arrange salad leaves on serving platter or individual plates and sprinkle with red onion, avocado  and asparagus then top with the cooled chicken.  Spoon dressing over salad - this will be very thick.  Serve with warm, crusty bread.


A tangy taste of summer!