The Maha East chef shares his recipe for this poached chicken salad, layered with smoky eggplant, spice and a nutty tahini dressing.
Shane Delia's poached chicken salad with harissa, eggplant, spring onion and tahini
Double dressing? In one corner, the nuttiness of the Maha East chef's tahini dressing; in the other, the one-two spicy punch of the harissa and lemon.
- 20 mins preparation
- 15 mins cooking (plus cooling)
- Serves 4 - 6
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Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (about 200gm each), trimmed
- 500 ml (2 cups) chicken stock, chilled
- 50 ml olive oil
- 1 large eggplant, cut into 1cm dice
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 50 gm (⅔ cup) roasted flaked almonds
- 30 gm roasted sesame seeds
- ½ cup (loosely packed) coriander
Tahini dressing
- 55 gm tahini
- 2 tsp lemon juice, plus extra to serve
- 1¾ tsp pomegranate molasses
- 1¾ tsp maple syrup
Harissa dressing
- 100 ml olive oil
- Juice of ½ small lemon
- 1 small golden shallot, finely diced
- ¼ tsp harissa paste
- 1 tsp coriander, finely chopped
Method
- 1Place chicken in a saucepan with stock and 500ml cold water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until chicken is almost cooked through (5-6 minutes). Remove from heat and leave chicken to cool completely in stock, then remove chicken from stock and refrigerate until required, reserving stock for another use (stock will keep frozen for a month).
- 2Meanwhile, for the tahini dressing, whisk ingredients and 1 tbsp water in a bowl, adding a little extra water as necessary, until a thick, smooth dressing.
- 3For harissa dressing, mix ingredients (except coriander) in a bowl and season to taste. Stir coriander through just before serving.
- 4Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat until smoking. Add eggplant, season with salt to taste and stir until golden brown and softened (5-10 minutes). Transfer to a large bowl.
- 5Cut chicken into 1cm dice and add to eggplant with spring onion, almonds and 2-3 tbsp harissa dressing. Toss well and season with salt and lemon juice to taste.
- 6Spread tahini dressing onto a serving platter, top with chicken and eggplant mixture, sprinkle with sesame seeds and top with coriander. Serve with extra harissa dressing on the side.
