Grilled Chicken and Nectarine Salad
Lara Hata
Jay Decker combines barbecued chicken, sweet nectarines, tangy goat cheese, and toasted pecans in a great entrée salad. Prep and cook time: about 25 minutes.
How to Make It
Step 1
1
Preheat oven to 350°. Spread pecans in a baking pan and bake until golden under skins, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
Step 2
2
Mound salad greens on four dinner plates. In a small bowl, stir vegetable oil, walnut oil, and vinegar to blend. Set aside.
Step 3
3
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Lay on a lightly oiled barbecue grill over a solid bed of medium-hot coals or medium-high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 3 to 4 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook chicken, turning occasionally, until meat is no longer pink in center of thickest part (cut to test), about 15 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a cutting board. Remove skin if desired.
Step 4
4
Slice chicken across the grain 1/2 inch thick; arrange over greens. Tuck nectarine around chicken. Scatter goat cheese and pecans over the top. Stir dressing; pour over salads. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 5
5
Nut Oils on Salad: A drizzle of walnut, hazelnut, or almond oil makes a salad dressing--like the one in this salad--rich and interesting. Until recently, though, nut oils have generally been imported and pricey. Now, less expensive oils pressed from Western nuts are joining imports in grocery stores.
Step 6
6
Nut oils are good for your heart, as well as your salads. Almond and hazelnut oils are rich in monounsaturated fats, and walnut oil supplies omega-3 fatty acids. Refrigerate nut oils after opening; they turn rancid quickly at room temperature.
Step 7
7
Note: Nutritional analysis is per serving without skin.
Ingredients
2/3 cup pecan halves
2 quarts salad greens (8 oz.), rinsed and crisped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup walnut oil (or more vegetable oil; see
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
4 boned chicken breast halves with skin (2 lb. total), rinsed, patted dry, and fat trimmed
Salt and pepper
2 firm-ripe nectarines (12 oz. total), rinsed, pitted, and thinly sliced
5 ounces fresh chèvre (goat cheese), crumbled
Directions
Step 1
1
Preheat oven to 350°. Spread pecans in a baking pan and bake until golden under skins, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
Step 2
2
Mound salad greens on four dinner plates. In a small bowl, stir vegetable oil, walnut oil, and vinegar to blend. Set aside.
Step 3
3
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Lay on a lightly oiled barbecue grill over a solid bed of medium-hot coals or medium-high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 3 to 4 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook chicken, turning occasionally, until meat is no longer pink in center of thickest part (cut to test), about 15 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a cutting board. Remove skin if desired.
Step 4
4
Slice chicken across the grain 1/2 inch thick; arrange over greens. Tuck nectarine around chicken. Scatter goat cheese and pecans over the top. Stir dressing; pour over salads. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 5
5
Nut Oils on Salad: A drizzle of walnut, hazelnut, or almond oil makes a salad dressing--like the one in this salad--rich and interesting. Until recently, though, nut oils have generally been imported and pricey. Now, less expensive oils pressed from Western nuts are joining imports in grocery stores.
Step 6
6
Nut oils are good for your heart, as well as your salads. Almond and hazelnut oils are rich in monounsaturated fats, and walnut oil supplies omega-3 fatty acids. Refrigerate nut oils after opening; they turn rancid quickly at room temperature.
Step 7
7
Note: Nutritional analysis is per serving without skin.
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