Name: Steamed chicken salad with fennel, orange and olives
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 2-4
Ingredients: 2 skinless chicken breasts, butterflied (see Be A Better Cook); 1 fennel bulb, sliced into 1cm wedges (reserve the fronds); 1 orange; 60g pitted green queen or gordal olives, torn; 10g mint leaves; 10g parsley leaves; 10g dill fronds; 20g pine nuts, toasted for 1-2 minutes in a hot dry pan until fragrant; Juice ½ lemon; ½ red chilli, very finely diced; Pinch caster sugar; 20g sultanas; 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; Large two-tier steamer

Steamed chicken salad with fennel, orange and olives

The secret to this vibrant chicken salad is steam. Here’s why we think this sunny, filling salad will become a regular in your summer meals repertoire… Gorgeous flavours: Toss the juicy steamed chicken and tender fennel with Sicilian-inspired flavours of mint, pine nuts, raisins, orange and lemon. 30-minute meal: Butterflying the chicken helps it to steam quickly and evenly, meaning this filling chicken salad is ready to eat in 30 minutes. Clever cooking method: Steaming is an excellent method of cooking chicken breast, with all that extra moisture ensuring it doesn’t dry out. It’s especially good for meal prep as the chicken stays juicier for longer (see Make Ahead). Click this way for more healthy chicken recipes.

Serves2-4

Hands-on10 min

Oven20 min

DifficultyEasy

Method

Line one of the steamer trays with baking paper and season the butterflied chicken well with salt and pepper. Lay in the tray and steam for 20 minutes. Add the sliced fennel to the second tray, then add it to the steamer underneath the chicken for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Leave both to cool.
Finely grate the zest of the orange into a bowl, then segment it and squeeze the remaining pith/pulp into the bowl to collect any juice. Reserve the segments separately, then add the dressing ingredients to the bowl and mix together with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
Tear the cooled chicken into a large mixing bowl, then add the fennel, orange segments, olives, mint, parsley, dill, reserved fennel fronds and pine nuts. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine, then serve.