• A wonderful way of  indservingividual salads. The chicken and creamy coconut dressing are a perfect match

    Panko-crumbed chicken and chickpea salad cups with a coconut and peanut dressing

    Serves: 4
    Cooking Time: 45 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 60ml (¼ cup) cake flour
    • 2,5ml (½ tsp) fine salt
    • 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
    • 90g panko crumbs
    • 15ml (1 tbsp) paprika
    • 4 (about 500g) deboned and skinless chicken breasts, sliced into bite-sized chunks
    • olive oil, to drizzle
    • DRESSING
    • ½ x 400ml tin coconut milk
    • 100g smooth peanut butter
    • 1 (about 25g) spring onion, chopped
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) red wine vinegar
    • 2,5ml (½ tsp) dried chilli flakes
    • 2,5ml (½ tsp) garlic, finely chopped
    • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • SALAD
    • 12 (about 120g) medium-sized butter lettuce leaves
    • 1 cucumber, spiralised (see ‘Cook’s tip’ if a spiraliser is not available)
    • 100g sugar snap peas
    • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
    • handful microherbs

    Instructions

    1

    1 For the panko-crumbed chicken, preheat the oven to 200°C. Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Place the whisked eggs in a second mixing bowl, then combine the panko crumbs and paprika in a third mixing bowl. Dip the chicken pieces into the flour and then into the eggs. Coat in the crumbs and arrange on a baking tray. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake until tender and cooked through, 20 minutes.

    2

    For the dressing, place everything in a food processor and season

    3

    to taste. Thin it down with a little water if it thickens upon standing.

    4

    To assemble the salad cups, arrange 3 butter lettuce leaves on each plate. Add a bit of spiralised cucumber, some sugar snap peas, chicken pieces and chickpeas. Top with a spoonful of the dressing and garnish with microherbs to serve.

    Notes

    If you don’t own a spiraliser, then use a vegetable peeler to create cucumber ribbons instead, or cut the cucumber into julienned strips. If you want to bulk up this meal, serve inside a toasted wrap or pita – it makes for a wonderful filling.