Chicken pesto Caesar salad recipe
Dress up a traditional chicken Caesar salad with a flavoursome herby pesto and olive twist. This warm chicken salad is perfect for packing on picnics or a light lunch.
See method- Serves 4
- 15 mins to prepare and 20 mins to cook
- 607 calories / serving
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breast fillets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pack Romaine lettuce hearts, washed and torn into pieces
- 1 pack sweet gem lettuce, washed and shredded
- 220g (7 1/2oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 50g (2 oz) pine nuts, lightly toasted
- 100g (3 1/2oz) black pitted olives, cut in half
- 3 slices of your choice of bread, cut into cubes (to make croutons)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 130g (4 oz) fresh pesto
- 1 lemon, 1/2 finely zested and juiced, 1/2 cut into wedges, to serve
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- handful Parmesan shavings
Each serving contains
- Energy
- 2525kJ 607.0kcal
- Fat
- 41g
- Saturates
- 6g
- Salt
- 2.0g
- Sugars
- 5g
of the Reference intake
Carbohydrate 22.4gProtein 36.4gFibre 4.2g
Method
- Start by placing the chicken breasts onto an oven tray and drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil over them with a little salt and pepper to season. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Whilst the chicken is cooking you can prep the salad.
- Either in 1 large bowl or 4 individual bowls, arrange the salad leaves (Romaine and sweet gem), cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and olives.
- In a nonstick frying pan add the bread cubes, 3 tbsp oil and some seasoning. Toss together to coat all the bread and fry this on a high heat to brown and crisp up. You will need to keep tossing the bread in the pan, when you have a nice golden colour remove onto some kitchen paper and set aside.
- When the chicken is ready remove from the oven. Slice the chicken and place into a bowl, then add half the tub of pesto to the chicken and give it a good stir making sure every piece is coated.
- In a jam jar, add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, the other half of the tub of pesto and the juice and zest of the lemon. Add a little seasoning to taste and give it a good shake.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad, add the chicken, and finish with the croutons and some parmesan shavings.
- See more #EvenBetter recipes
- For top tips on protecting you and your family when preparing raw meat and poultry, visit Food Safety in the Home.
