Chicken, petits pois & avocado with gem lettuce and lemon tarragon dressing

Name: Chicken, petits pois & avocado with gem lettuce and lemon tarragon dressing
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 kg whole roasted chicken; 5 tbsp olive oil; 2 little gem lettuce; 180 g fresh petits pois; 2 small avocados; Squeeze lemon juice

This salad from Honey & Co is good enough to justify roasting a chicken especially. It’s important to leave the chicken to sit and soak in the tangy marinade which will become the salad dressing. We serve this still slightly chilled from the fridge and pray there’ll be some left for tomorrow’s lunch – it may lose some of its vibrant green colour, but none of its flavour.

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Serves6 (or 8 in a bigger spread)
CourseMain meal
Prepare20 mins
Cook5 mins
Total time25 mins
PlusPreparation time 20 minutes + marinating

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1kg whole roasted chicken
5 tbsp olive oil
2 little gem lettuce
180g fresh petits pois
2 small avocados
Squeeze lemon juice

For the dressing marinade

2 shallots
1 tsp flaked sea salt, plus extra to serve
1 tsp caster sugar
2 lemons, juice
2 tsp red wine or sherry vinegar
At least 3 shakes red or green Tabasco (more green tabasco if you like a kick)
20g pack tarragon

Start with the dressing marinade. Finely chop the shallots and place in a bowl with the salt, about 3 grinds of pepper from a mill, the sugar, lemon juice, vinegar and Tabasco. Pick the leaves from the tarragon and chop about ⅔. Add the chopped leaves to the marinade and reserve the rest to garnish. Stir the marinade and leave for about 10 minutes so the shallots can cure and lose some of their sharpness.
Meanwhile, prepare the chicken. Remove the meat from the carcass – you can do this with a knife to get clean slices, but we prefer to use our hands – in bitesized pieces that are not too small. You should end up with around 500-600g cooked chicken.
Add the olive oil to the marinade, stir and add the chicken pieces. Gently fold to avoid breaking the chicken, then cover and leave in the fridge to marinade for at least 1 hour.
Get the rest of the salad ingredients ready, then bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the peas and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, depending on their size, then remove to a bowl with iced water and drain when cold. Separate the lettuce leaves, discarding any rough outer leaves or any that are brown – you want only the freshest and best. Peel the avocado and slice into halfmoons, then squeeze a little lemon juice over to keep them nice and green. All of these can be kept in the fridge until ready to serve.
When ready to eat, add the salad ingredients to the bowl with the chicken pieces and gently fold once or twice, taking care not to smoosh the components. Transfer to a serving dish, making sure to drizzle all the marinade on top. Sprinkle some sea salt and the reserved tarragon leaves on top.

Typical values per serving (for 6) when made using specific products in recipe