Gourmet Cooking on a College Budget
Quadruple Red Salad with Bacon-Seared Chicken
By Author Jonathan David
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The four reds are red bell pepper, red onion, red leaf lettuce, and red wine vinegar. I toss them with crumbled feta and freshly cracked black pepper, then top the salad with a sliced chicken breast seared in bacon drippings. I started a pot of stock with the chicken carcass while I made dinner.
Ingredients
Makes one hearty dinner salad. The vegetable base can also serve 2 to 4 as a side, depending on portion size. I assembled and dressed it by eye.
- 1 red bell pepper
- Red onion, thinly sliced, to taste
- Red leaf lettuce, including some of the ribs
- Red wine vinegar, to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Feta from a block packed in brine, crumbled, to taste
- 1 boneless chicken breast, butterflied
- Salt and black pepper, to season the chicken
- Reserved bacon drippings, enough to lightly coat the skillet
How I made the salad
- Prep the pepper. Trim the top and bottom, slit the side, and open the pepper so you can remove the core and seeds. Lay the pepper flat and shave away the pale inner ribs with a sharp knife. Slice the red flesh into thin matchsticks.
- Give the onion and pepper a head start in the vinegar. Slice the red onion about as thin as the pepper. Toss them with a splash of red wine vinegar and freshly cracked black pepper. Let them sit while you prep the lettuce.
- Use the lettuce ribs for crunch. Rinse the leaves under running water and spin or pat them dry. Slice some ribs thinly so they mix evenly with the onion and pepper. Shred the leafy parts just before serving.
- Finish the salad base. Toss the lettuce with the pepper and onion, then crumble in the feta. Taste and add a little more red wine vinegar or cracked pepper as needed. The vinegar is the dressing for this salad.
- Sear the chicken. Season the butterflied breast on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the bacon drippings in a skillet, then sear the breast on both sides until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C). Let the chicken rest for a few minutes on a clean cutting board.
- Slice and serve. Slice the warm chicken and lay it over the salad. Serve right away so the lettuce keeps its crunch.
The stock I started on the show
Breaking down a whole chicken gave me a breast for dinner and a carcass for the next pot of soup. I saved the other cuts for separate meals.
For the stockpot
Chicken carcass and bones, celery, about 4 carrots, 1 quartered onion, crushed peeled garlic, about 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, about 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 2 bay leaves, salt to taste, and water to cover. Dried parsley is optional.
- Cut the carrots and celery into chunks and add them to the stockpot with the onion, garlic, and chicken bones.
- Add the peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves, and optional parsley. Cover with water and bring the pot to a gentle simmer.
- Keep it at a gentle simmer for roughly 4 to 8 hours, as described on the show. Add water as needed to keep the solids covered.
- Strain the stock. If saving it for later, divide it into shallow containers and refrigerate or freeze it promptly.
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The review and what made it work
I’d make this one the same way again. The sweet red pepper, sharp onion, briny feta, and warm chicken worked together, and the lettuce ribs gave each bite some crunch.
- Trim the pepper and slice it thin. Shaving away the pale ribs brings the juicy red flesh forward. Cutting the pepper and onion to a similar thickness helps the vinegar reach both and gives you a little of each in one bite.
- Use feta packed in brine. Crumble it straight from the block so there are small salty bits throughout the bowl.
- Dress it with red wine vinegar and cracked pepper. Pick a vinegar you like the taste of on its own. It carries the dressing here.
- Try fresh mozzarella for a variation. In the review, I mentioned tossing the same vegetable base with fresh mozzarella and a vinaigrette for a different salad.
“And that’s the flavor.”