First salad of the summer! I’m still busy working on that photo and food styling post but figured I’d take a break (not really) and get some cooking done and blogged. On the photo and styling post I want to go over some basic lighting and composition, and also some color stuff and photo editing. I also want to cover my photography gear but more of that later. With summer officially kicked off on this hemisphere and the women’s soccer world cup taking over every bar and restaurant in the city, I thought a healthy and colourful salad, the brunchy type, would be the perfect thing to make.

I did a couple of things here that I would normally not do. I cooked the eggs, the chicken and the potatoes sous vide. The chicken was leftover from dinner the night before and the motivation for making this salad really. I also shot it overexposed on purpose. I like that kind of lighting for a crisp and sunny morning, the bloody mary type of morning. Anyways, this is a super simple salad to make, and the sous vide step is not a requirement,  the ingredient list is super flexible too so use it as a reference or not. Ok, here we go:

Ingredients (serves 2):

4 chinese cabbage leafs or any crunchy lettuce

4 eggs, hard boiled

6-8 fingerling potatoes

1 medium carrot, julienned

6 pickle slices

2 Tbsp Mayo (see how to make your own here!)

2 chicken breasts, no bone.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

The chicken. Salt it generously and let it rest for about 20 mins or less salt but let it cure overnight in the fridge. To cook it, easy, you can poach it, grill it, sauté it. As long as the inner temperature reaches 62C degrees, you should be good. If you are cooking it sous vide. 40 mins at 62C should get you there. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature or colder. I like it cold from the fridge. Cut it into slices.

The eggs. Hard boil them. If they’re at room temperature. Boil in water for 7 mins. If they’re cold from the fridge, then allow a bit longer more like 10. You’d end with a better finish if the egg is at room temperature. If cooking sous vide… we can spend an entire day talking about this here but since I simply wanted a hard boiled egg, I cooked them with the potatoes in the same bath. 90C for 10 mins. Under cold running water, remove the shells. Reserve in the fridge until cold. Slice them into wedges.

The potatoes. Cooking in simmering water until tender. About 30 mins. I leave the skins on and I don’t slice the potatoes either. If cooking sous vide, then 90C for 45 mins. Reserve in the fridge until cold. Then slice them into wedges.

Mixing the salad. In a big bowl, add the pickle slices, the tomato wedges, the potato wedges, the julienned carrot. Add the mayo and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Using your hands, mix carefully and set aside.

For plating. Place the extra pickle slices and whole cabbage leaves on your plate. Again, using your hands, carefully scoop a serving of salad and  place it in the centre each dish. I added the eggs last, but obviously that can be incorporated into the mixing step as well. Happy Sunday!

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