Moroccan Chicken Salad

Since visiting Morocco this year I have become slightly obsessed with Moroccan cooking, even investing in a tagine.  So when I was invited to enter a competition to create a new salad for the opening of Chop'd's new store in the Selfridges food hall I could not help but give a Moroccan twist to my entry.   It was fun designing a recipe that had the potential to be actually sold in stores and I tried to think of something that would appeal to lots of people rather than just putting all my favourite ingredients in one salad (chorizo, jerk chicken, chick pea, soba noodle and smoked salmon salad anyone?!).

The Chop'd salad bar in Selfridges

Competition was hot with a bevy of bloggers submitting recipes which were then created by the Chop'd team and voted upon in a blind tasting.  Entrants included Mathilde's Cuisine, Eat Like A Girl, The Style PA, The Lean Times, Om Nom, and GastroGeek.  Sadly my salad did not triumph, the winner was Om Nom with this recipe.   However, I was proud to secure the runners up position.  You can order Om Nom's winning chorizo salad at all Chop'd stores over the next few weeks and if it is popular enough it will stay on the menu.  

As for my Moroccan chicken salad, you will just have to make it yourself at home...

Moroccan Chicken Salad

Ingredients

300g cous cous

2 chicken breasts 

1 roasted red pepper sliced thinly

100g chickpeas

1 red onion sliced thinly 

100g sweet corn

2 tbsp parsley roughly chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to season

1.  Add a splash of olive oil to a a frying pan and slowly cook the red onion over a very low heat until caramelised.  

2.  Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and poach the chicken breasts in it.  This should take about 8 minutes.  Leave the chicken to cool and then shred.  

2.  Pour boiling water over the cous cous and leave to sit for 2 mins and then use a fork to fluff the cous cous.  

3.  Mix all the ingredients together with the cous cous and then dress with the lemon juice.

4.  Season to taste.

Serves four.

If you are pushed for time, try using leftover roast chicken rather than poaching it yourself and you could also buy caramelised onions rather than making them yourself.  

Links

If you liked reading this you might be interested in my favourite salad recipe for roast sweet potato and chorizo salad.  Or you might be interested in reading about the cooking class I went to in Morocco.