It is well into summer now and what better lunch to have on a sunny day than a tasty salad? (I may be a bit biased, of course, as this is my own recipe…) This salad is packed full of protein and will leave you feeling like you have had a proper lunch not just some leaves - some people seem to think is the sole constituent of a salad!

Chicken breast provides lovely lean protein and Puy lentils provide plenty of fibre as well as plant-based protein. The salad also has baby kale which is my new addiction. I love traditional kale, too, but the baby variety is perfect for salads. The addition of pepper adds some sweet crunch to the salad. The salad is quick to assemble but the chicken will have to be cooked in advance. I had chicken curry on Sunday and while I was cooking the curry on the hob, the chicken for the salad was cooking in the oven. This made it perfect for knocking up this quick salad for lunch on Monday. You could easily have this salad for a light dinner too.

Recipe (serves 1)

For the chicken:

• 1 chicken breast
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Olive Oil

Sprinkle the seasoning over the chicken, drizzle with oil and wrap the chicken in foil.
Bake the chicken in the foil for 25-35mins at 200C. (Make sure it is white throughout and piping hot in the centre.)
Leave to cool and then refrigerate

For the salad:

• 1 serving of baby kale
• 1/4 of an orange pepper (cubed)
• 80g Puy Lentils (I often use pre-cooked lentils for quickness but the dried lentils are cheaper and can easily be cooked up and used to make a salad for a couple of days, just store it in the fridge.)
• Herb chicken breast (sliced)

Dressing:

• Extra Virgin Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar

Assemble the salad on a plate loosely layering the baby kale and lentils before topping with the chicken and pepper.
For the dressing, simply combine equal amounts of the oil and vinegar to make a simple vinaigrette. You can omit the dressing if you wish.

TIP:If cooking lentils from scratch, cook the lentils in vegetable stock rather than plain water to add extra flavour. Add a bay leaf too as it adds great flavour.

Hopefully the sun is out when you make it so you can enjoy it with the sun streaming down on you as you eat it like I did!

Have a great day,
Helen x

---

For more of my foodie-adventures, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
This post is adapted from an earlier post on my archived blog when I used to put annoying watermarks on my photos...

---

Copyright©HLDCblog // Helen Redman 2015-2018.