While many of you are bidding summer goodbye, we here in the Southern Hemisphere are welcoming it with open arms. Well, semi-open. You see, spring is my ultimate favourite season. I love that the blooms are blooming and the birds are chirping. I love that my toes don’t feel like they’re going to freeze off and I love the abundance of new fruit and vegetables in my supermarket. What I don’t like is when global warming happens and we go from freezing winter to hot-as-hell summer in a matter of hours. What is even up with that?
However, I can’t complain too much because the warmer temperatures also mean that I get to make even quicker dinners in the evenings. My ultimate quick, throw-together-dinner is a good salad. Last night I had a few chicken breasts in the fridge and knew they would be turned into a salad of some kind but I didn’t want the usual poached/roasted chicken. I wanted a POW of flavour and then I spotted it. My beloved Sriracha. Man, that stuff is good. So I made a little saucy-marinade of sorts to pour over the chicken before I popped the breasts into a hot oven. 20 minutes later, out they came looking gloriously caramelised and the flavour was just out of this world. In fact, I am going to re-work this recipe a little and turn it into a full roast chicken. Watch this space.
Anyway, back to the salad: I served the sliced chicken on a bed of baby lettuce leaves and added sliced avocado, charred corn, perfectly ripe tomatoes and soft goat’s cheese. To add texture, I sliced ciabatta thinly and gave them a quick toast. And then the dressing. Would it be a simple lemon vinaigrette or perhaps something with mustard? I just couldn’t decide but I knew the salad needed some acidity and so I decided to make the simplest dressing in the world. Lemon zest, lemon juice, cream, salt and pepper. That’s it. And the end result? Sooooo good. Like “I-could-eat-this-salad-everyday” good. In fact, this might be one of those recipes that go into regular-rotation at our house. But this time, it won’t be because I’m lazy but because it’s just so damn delicious.

Spicy roast chicken salad with ciabatta crisps and creamy lemon dressing
Print Pin Rate Add to Shopping ListIngredients
for the chicken
- 2 x bone-in chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- pinch of smoked paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
for the salad
- ciabatta thinly sliced and toasted
- baby lettuce leaves
- sliced avocado
- ripe tomatoes sliced
- soft goat's cheese crumbled
- corn charred in a griddle pan and sliced off the cob
for the dressing
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 100 ml cream
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
- Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet.
- Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and pour over the chicken.
- Place the chicken in the oven and allow to roast for 20-25 minutes until the the skin is caramelised and the chicken is cooked through but still succulent.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Slice the breast off the bone then into thin slices.
- Arrange the salad ingredients on a large platter.
- Combine the dressing ingredients then serve alongside the salad.
Wow, Alida…this salad looks absolutely mouthwatering!! This is the kind of salad I would happily eat everyday. You know sometimes when you’re just thinking of what to eat, and the idea of salad pops up, but you’re like mehh…? Well this is so NOT that…this is the salad you’re like omggg, I’m craving the spicy roast chicken salad and I’m missing some ingredients but who cares, it’s worth driving down to the market for! Yeah…that kind of salad! :p It actually looks so much like this one salad that I absolutely adore and always order from a local cafe, so I am so excited to be able to recreate it at home now with your recipe. I love the charred corn, goat cheese, and the fact that the dressing is so simple. Oh and srichacha is always a major plus!! <3 Beautiful photos too; I love your blog! 🙂
P.S. This freak weather sucks major. We're mere days away from fall here in the States and its 90 degrees. 😐
Thanks so much for your lovely comment. So glad you like the look of this salad!
This is so my kind of dinner. I love salads for dinner and this one look delicious. I like the spicy chicken in it. Great!
Thanks Kristina! This is a great dinner salad.
OMG I reckon I could eat this salad every day too! So simple and full of fresh ingredients – especially love the charred corn and goats cheese <3
It really is a winner. I reckon I could eat charred corn with everything and so, it is now my mission to see how many things I can actually add it to. 😉 Thanks for your comment C!
This looks like a lovely salad, but I adore the simplicity of your dressing!
Thanks Abbe! 🙂