Chicken and Butternut Salad

 

 

I’m chilling in the coffee shop/restaurant Ginger and Fig, in Pretoria. I’ve just hooked up to the wi-fi and the password code is the funniest I’ve heard in a while. The story of Ginger and Fig is a very cool one. Although the owner (he is a ginger) does not fit the profile of the story. He looks very much like Lucas Parker of Crossfit fame, and someone not to F#$* with.

The food is very good, lovely ambiance and the coffee is at this date my favourite in Pretoria, eclipsing Haloa, Vintage coffee and Lucky bread by the fairest of margins. They use Doubleshot coffee beans which is locally roasted in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, #supportlocal. I would certainly recommend this place for an all-round experience.    

There is so much I’ve wanted to share but the time and my own personal laziness have prevented the outpouring of my knowledge. This recipe was born out of items that I had in my freezer but not particularly fond of. The chief culprit, chicken fillet. Why oh! why did we buy chicken fillet. All the best proponents of the chicken have been removed, bones, skin etc. It’s like a laboratory generated meat with a propensity to not cook properly. The weirdest thing is that we pay more for it. Rant aside I hope to have worked out a recipe using one of my disliked ingredients with another childhood phobic word, i.e. SALAD.

The recipe also uses an air fryer (marketing beguilement of note), to complete a trifecta of pet hates. Last rant-tjie (synonym in English/Afrikaans for small rant) I promise………for now. On to the recipe!

Ingredients

·         Chicken fillets (250g), cut into cubes

·         1 tsp chilli flakes

·         1 tsp freshly ground pepper

·         1 “medium” butternut, cut into blocks (apologies for the term medium, I do not even know how to describe the butternut size used)

·         1 green pepper

·         3 Tbsp Olive Oil

·         1 small red onion (cut into cubes)

·         3 Tbsp Feta (crumpled)

Method

·         Mix chicken fillets, chilli flakes and pepper and place in air fryer for 13mins @ 220 deg C (ensure that the fillets are cooked)

·         Remove chicken and place in bowl

·         Add butternut to air fryer and cook for 15mins @ 220 deg C

·         Place green pepper and olive oil with chicken in bowl and mix around

·         After 15mins add onions and coconut oil to butternut and mix around, then place in air fryer for 20mins.

·         After 20mins, remove butternut and onion and combine with chicken.

·         Add Feta and serve…….Either hot or cold!!

Bon appetite!!