Poached Chicken, Crunchy Vegetables, and Herb Dressing from ‘Cook. Nourish. Glow.’
Every week, Yahoo Food spotlights a cookbook that stands out from all the rest. The week’s cookbook is Cook. Nourish. Glow. 120 Recipes That Will Help You Lose Weight, Look Younger, and Feel Healthier by Amelia Freer (Harper Wave), a nutritional therapist and author of the bestselling book, Eat. Nourish. Glow. Read more about Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week here.
Photograph by Susan Bell
By Amelia Freer
Poached Chicken, Crunchy Vegetables, and Herb Dressing
Serves 2
I used to be put off poaching chicken as I feared it was more complicated than my simple fried version. But it’s actually so much easier, because while the chicken poaches you can prepare the rest of the food. These days I often poach 3 or 4 chicken breasts at a time, then keep them in the fridge so I can toss them into salads over the following days. Poaching really helps to keep the moisture in the meat, so the end result is much more enjoyable than dried, overcooked chicken.
For the dressing:
10 almonds (1 tablespoon), soaked
2 sprigs each of cilantro, basil, parsley, and tarragon, leaves picked and stalks set aside
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
Sea salt
½ cup olive oil
2 x 5-ounce chicken breasts
1 clove of garlic, crushed with skin on
1 teaspoon sea salt
A handful (approx. ¼ pound) of green beans
1 bulb of fennel
1 carrot
1 small zucchini
6 ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
Freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges, to serve
For the dressing, drain and rinse the almonds in fresh cold water, then pound them with the herbs, the garlic clove and a little salt. Slowly pour the olive oil into the mixture, stirring to combine.
Put the chicken breasts into a pan of cold water with the reserved herb stalks (from the dressing), the garlic, and the salt. Bring the water to a simmer, turn off the heat, and immediately cover the pan. Allow the chicken to sit in the hot poaching liquor for 20 minutes, until cooked through.
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the green beans for 1 ½ to 2 minutes, then cool under cold running water. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Preheat the broiler. Shave the fennel bulb with a mandolin or peeler into thin slices and do the same with the carrot and zucchini. Add to the beans. Put the tomatoes on a non-stick baking sheet and under a preheated broiler for 2 to 3 minutes until softened. Add to the bowl.
Remove the chicken breasts from the poaching liquor. Thinly slice them and add to the bowl of vegetables. Toss together and season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken and vegetable between plates and serves with the herby dressing and lemon wedges.
Reprinted with permission from Cook. Nourish. Glow. 120 Recipes That Will Help You Lose Weight, Look Younger, and Feel Healthier by Amelia Freer (Harper Wave).
More healthy recipes to make at home:
Gnocchi with Squash and Kale from ‘The Best and Lightest’
Gluten-Free Seeded Bread from ‘At My Table’
Spicy Stir-Fried Bok Choy and Shiitakes from ‘Paleo Perfected’
