Scrumptious Chicken and Legendary Broccoli Salad
Want a low carb, delicious dinner? Honestly, this broccoli salad is the easiest way to have people go “giiiirl, you are an amazing cook!” And only you know how easy it was to make. Teehee!
As always, don’t ignore this one if you don’t eat meat - veggie/vegan alternatives suggested below!
Cutting down on carbs is not my thing.
But sometimes, my partner asks as politely as he can if we can have something a little bit less carb heavy for dinner. And that is certainly not a bad idea. Not only is it of course helpful if you are trying to keep your weight down (though that is not my main message!), but it can also be lovely - especially if you’re having dinner quite late - to not go to bed with that heavy feeling that you can get from carbs. A well-seasoned, oven baked chicken breast is so simple and delicious. But I will be totally honest here, the queen of this recipe is this gorgeous broccoli salad. If you want to make the recipe veggie or vegan, have a look below at my suggestions, but one way of very easily making it vegetarian is by simply only making the salad. You can add a few of the different nuts and seeds suggested in the recipe (instead of choosing just one) to up the protein. It’s so much more exciting than you might think! Give it a try and let me know how you got on!
Scrumptious low carb chicken and legendary broccoli salad:
For 2 people
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
A pinch of salt & pepper
Seasoning - a pinch of each of these (all these are optional and can be swapped for your favourites!):
smoked paprika
Thyme
Brown sugar
Chilli powder
Sesame seeds
1 broccoli head
1/2 onion
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1-2 tbsps of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp of honey
1 tsp of English mustard
A handful of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds or chopped nuts
A handful of dried cranberries, sultanas or raisins
A pinch of salt and pepper, to taste
A pinch of dill, to taste
I recommend you do the broccoli salad first - it really helps if you have time to put it in the fridge for a bit, or at least to one side, so the liquids can soak up and attach more to the broccoli. It’s lovely!
Cut the florets of the broccoli and put them in a colander, boil some water and pour it slowly over the florets. I love it when the broccoli is still raw and crunchy! If you like your broccoli a bit softer, you can put them in a saucepan and let them soak in the boiled water for a bit before you rinse it out in the colander, but keep in mind that broccoli goes soft very quickly, and you want the florets to be hard enough to mix in the salad without falling apart. Rinse with cold water and leave them to cool in the colander.
In a medium/large bowl, mix the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, honey and mustard together. Mix in the cranberries, onion and seeds, and add some salt, pepper and dill to taste. When the broccoli has cooled down, mix it in with everything else in the bowl - mix it well! Put in the fridge or to the side if you don’t want it too cold.
Now on to the chicken! Set the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C). Cover the breasts in olive oil (both sides) and put on a baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, the salt, pepper and the other seasoning. The brown sugar is nice to give the top of the chicken breast a little crunch (it caramelises!) but as you are using honey for the salad, it might be easier recipe wise to use honey instead - you only need a tiny bit. Brush the mix all over the tops of the chicken breasts. Put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, you can check the internal temperature on the chicken - it’s perfect when it’s just over 75°C.
As the chicken is nearly done, get the broccoli salad and dish it out on the two plates, and add a chicken breast to each plate. A lovely crunchy, cool salad with a juicy, flavourful, piping hot chicken breast! Gorgeous!
Vegetarian/vegan options to the meat:
Tofu work perfectly with this salad! You can use the same seasoning, and cook the tofu in the oven or fry it if you prefer.
Cauliflower is another lovely option, with the same seasoning on top - and you can cook it in the oven, it’s super tasty!
And as I said above, this salad is so good - that you can easily have it completely on its own.
Vegan options for the salad:
A tsp of sugar can substitute the honey, and vegan mayonnaise is of course totally fine! You can even make your own from scratch!
I’d love to hear and see how you got on, did you make both the chicken and the salad, or just one of them? Did you change anything? Share your recipe with me on Instagram and tag @TheFromScratchBody and hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
