Chicken Kale Salad with Roasted Chickpeas & Buttermilk Caesar Dressing
Another salad post...surprising, I know. I figured after the Asian Chicken & Cabbage Salad with Sriracha, Black Sesame Seeds & Fried Eggs, I was on a salad roll. This salad even made me irrationally excited to eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. One warning, though, bring breath mints if you're planning to eat this during your work day. You'll need 'em.
A few other warnings before we get started:
Roasted chickpeas. Yes, yes, you could just throw some croutons on this salad and call it a day. Once you try roasted chickpeas, though, you'll want them on all your salads, as well as for snacking. You can season them in a gazillion different ways, savory and sweet. Try it out...you'll be hooked, I promise.
Anchovies. These salty little fish might sound scary, but all good Caesar salad dressings are made with them, so just suck it up and throw 'em in there! Anchovies provide an unctuous umami that can't be replaced, in my opinion. Once mixed into the dressing, you'll forget all about 'em and continue practically eating the dressing with a spoon.
This particular recipe again is one I created after adapting several others. The inspiration for the salad itself came from this recipe and the dressing was my own take on this. I happened to have most of the ingredients on hand already, making this the perfect pantry meal, minus the freshly bunch of kale I had picked up at the Kingfield Farmers Market over the weekend. Speaking of which, the they have a new website, Neighborhood Roots, which combines the produce powers of Kingfield, Fulton and Nokomis farmers markets. Now I can link back to one address instead of three separate ones for my farmers market finds...score!
Chicken Kale Salad with Roasted Chickpeas & Buttermilk Caesar Dressing
Serves: 2 for dinner, 4 as a side
Preparation Time: 45-60 minutes (depends on how long you marinate and cook the chicken; could be shorter if you make the dressing and marinate overnight)
For Dressing/Marinade:
1/2 c. light mayonnaise
1/2 c. buttermilk (you can also add a 1/2 tsp. vinegar to 1/2 c. milk and let sit for a minute as a buttermilk substitute)
1 can anchovies, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
freshly cracked lemon pepper (or plain black pepper), to taste
For Salad:
1 large. boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded out slightly
1 15-oz. can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed & dried
olive oil cooking spray
1 tsp. smoked paprika
salt/pepper, to taste
1 bunch kale
olive oil
parmesan shavings, to serve
Method:
1. Make the dressing/marinade by whisking all of the ingedients together in a bowl. If the dressing appears too thick, you can add a splash of water or olive oil and whisk again to thin it to your liking. Place chicken breast in a ziploc bag or a small bowl with lid. Pour just enough of the dressing onto the chicken, turning to fully coat. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or if you're reading this the day before and have time, overnight! Save the rest of the dressing in a jar in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2. Now make the chickpeas. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Place chickpeas in a single layer on the pan and sprinkle paprika as evenly as you can onto the chickpeas. Roll the chickpeas around on the pan to fully coat. Add more cooking spray if needed, but you don't want to saturate the chickpeas with oil, just a light coating. Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the chickpeas are crispy but not burnt. Rotate the chickpeas around on the pan about halfway through. Once crispy, remove from oven and let cool. Or turn the oven off and let sit in the oven until ready to use. Season with salt/pepper to taste.
3. While chickpeas are baking, cook the chicken and prepare the kale. Chicken can be grilled, baked or pan-cooked. Prepare it whichever way you like best. I cooked mine in a saute pan on the stove and allowed the marinade to cook in the pan with it. Once cooked, cut into strips.
4. To prepare the kale, remove the hearty stems of the kale and cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Place the leaves in a colander in the sink and briefly rinse and shake the colander to allow excess water drain. Then pour a little bit of olive oil onto the kale and massage with your hands until it becomes somewhat wilty. Keep doing this, adding more olive oil if necessary, until the kale is soft and manageable.
5. To assemble, remove kale from colander and place in a large serving bowl. Pour as much dressing as you like onto the kale. Add chickpeas and parmesan cheese and toss. Top with chicken slices.
