Warm Chicken, Haloumi and Avocado Salad

This is a perfect spring, summer or autumn dish – yes a few quick cooks but all in the same pan and the dish is quick and easy to make. The salty, squeaky haloumi works really well with the capsicum, avocado and asparagus together with the dressing which has that tangy balsamic sharpness

The pancetta or bacon is an optional ingredient – I use it, but you may feel that the haloumi, being salty, is sufficient to provide that salty/umami flavour balance without adding pancetta/bacon

Two of the ingredients are very much seasonal – capsicum and asparagus. If available they both enhance the dish

Dress with a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing

Ingredients

3 chicken thighs cut into strips – you can use chicken breast if you prefer

1 packet of haloumi (should be 195-200 gms) – sliced into 1 cm slices

1 long red capsicum cut into rounds

Handful of cherry tomatoes (cut in half or left whole, whichever you prefer)

1 avocado, cut however you like

Bunch of asparagus if in season

1 packet of pancetta or 250 gm packet of streaky bacon (optional)

Handful of pine nuts

Rocket leaves or your favourite salad mix

Salt and pepper

Cooking instructions

1.      Gently toast the pine nuts – keep a close eye on them as they toast very quickly. Remove/ set aside

2.      Looking at the picture below, cut the pancetta crossways in half and half again, so you should have lots of strips about 4cms long

3.      In a non-stick frypan, drop a small amount of olive oil and on low-med heat, gently fry the pancetta until crispy– it should take about 2 mins. Remove and place on some handee towel

4.      If you are using asparagus, cook it how you prefer. I quickly put it in the microwave for one minute and then fry it in the pan with the residual olive oil for around 5 minutes- then set it aside

5.      Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Drop in a bit of olive oil in a pan and gently fry the thighs until cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside

6.      Wipe out the pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the haloumi on a medium heat for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown

7.      All done, you simply need to assemble the salad- all the ingredients and the pine nuts sprinkled at the end

Simple olive oil and balsamic dressing

6 tbs olive oil

2-3 tbs Balsamic vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Good pinch cracked pepper

Pinch salt

Mix together thoroughly

Combine the ingredients, stirring thoroughly

Serves 3-4