5-Spice Chicken Salad

Adapted from Nigel Slater’s recipe in The Kitchen Diaries II.

This is the type of thing I love to have for mid-week meals. It’s quick and warming enough to feel like a real dinner but not heavy at all. Chinese 5-spice isn’t something I cook with very often, but whenever I do I really love it. In Australia it’s available in supermarkets. In other parts of the world you might need to track down a specialist spice merchant or an Asian grocery store. It keeps for ages so it’s worth any hassle.

enough for 2:
Takes about 10 minutes.
2 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice
1-2 small red chillies, chopped
450g (1lb) chicken thighs fillets or breasts, sliced into thumb sized pieces
1-2 limes
4 handfuls washed salad leaves

1. Pop a frying pan or wok on a medium-high heat.

2. Combine 5-spice, chilli with 2 tablespoons of oil (I used macadamia but any neutral flavoured oil is good) and a little salt. Toss chicken to coat in the oil.

3. Cook chicken for about 2 minutes on the first side.

4. Turn and cook, covered for another 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

5. Remove from the heat and squeeze over some lime juice.

6. Divide salad between 2 plates. Top with hot chicken and serve with lime on the side.

Variations

vegetarian – replace chicken with slices of halloumi.

vegan – try Chinese 5 spice tofu.

different meat – pork fillets or firm white fish will also be great. Adjust cooking time accordingly.

can’t find Chinese 5-spice? – substitute in curry powder or make your own 5-spice. Combine 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground star anise, 2 teaspoons ground cloves, 1.5 teaspoons ground fennel seeds, and 0.5 teaspoons ground black pepper. Keep leftovers in a glass jar or ziplock bag.

different greens – play around with the salad leaves, St Nigel used snow pea sprouts as well as the salad leaves. Steamed bok choy would also be lovely.

more saucey – make a lime ‘aioli’ by stirring the zest of a lime and a crushed clove of garlic into some good quality mayo.

carb lovers / more substantial – serve with steamed rice or cooked noodles.

paleo (grain, legume & dairy-free) – use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.