Mediterranean Chicken Salad

The Mediterranean Chicken Salad from The Silver Palate Cookbook is delicious, especially the chicken, which is cooked in a wonderful homemade vegetable stock of onions, carrots, leeks, bay and clove. I used to make it sometimes when I was in high school.

As tasty as that is, it takes a lot of time to make the stock and then cook the chicken in it. I wanted to create a salad inspired by that classic dish that could come together in half an hour to make a weeknight dinner salad.

To do so, I sautéed the chicken with some of the seasonings from the stock, namely the clove and thyme and ditched the vegetable broth poaching. It is, admittedly, not as flavorful as the original, but it's still quite good and a lot easier to prepare. Otherwise the recipe is quite similar. I added some fresh parsley and substituted kalamata for the niçoise olives.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Inspired by a recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

1/2 lb. green beans, halved with rough ends cut off
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 lb. chicken breast cutlets
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Pinch of ground clove
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3 cups loosely packed arugula
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup kalamata olives
1 tbsp. capers (small size)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp. fresh chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Cook the green beans until just tender, about 2 or 3 minutes. Remove beans from water and transfer to ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans and set aside.

2. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Pat chicken cutlets dry and add to pan. Season chicken with salt, pepper, clove and dried thyme and cook for about 10 minutes, turning halfway through until chicken is lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to a cutting board, allow to cool and cut into strips or chunks.

3. Combine the arugula, tomatoes, olives, capers, green beans and chicken in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tbsp. olive oil, lemon juice and oregano. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Top with fresh parsley and serve family style or on large plates.