Mary Berry’s Chicken, Avocado and Bacon Salad
A well-presented and flavourful salad, this recipe from Mary Berry's BBC series, Classic is a great addition to a dinner party spread or perfect for a light lunch.
From the book
Classic by Mary Berry
Family favourites
Easy entertaining
Stunning bakes
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Introduction
An impressive and attractive salad platter: easy to assemble with other salads and take to the table for a light lunch or supper with friends. Full of flavour and texture with peppery rocket, a creamy dressing with subtle tarragon flavour, crunchy bacon and on-trend ingredients avocado and roasted pumpkin seeds.
Ingredients
| 1 | cooked chicken (about 600g) |
| 6 | rashers of smoked streaky bacon |
| 2 | Little Gem lettuces |
| 50g (2oz) | rocket |
| 2 | small avocados |
| 25g (1oz) | pumpkin seeds, toasted (see tip) |
| For the dressing: | |
| 300ml (10fl oz) | natural yoghurt |
| juice of ½ lemon | |
| 1 tbsp | chopped tarragon leaves |
| 2 | small spring onions, finely sliced |
| 1 tbsp | Dijon mustard |
| 1 tsp | caster sugar |
| 2 tsp | white wine vinegar |
| salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Method
Remove the skin from the chicken, then carve the meat and slice it into pieces.
Place all of the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat in the mixture. Cover the bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
Shortly before you are ready to serve, cook the bacon under the grill or in a dry pan for 4–5 minutes until crisp and golden. Set aside to drain on a piece of kitchen paper. Once cold, snip into little pieces.
On a large platter, place 2–3 lettuce leaves next to each other and slightly overlapping to make a cup shape. Top with some rocket leaves. Repeat with the remaining lettuce and rocket, so that you have 8–10 lettuce cups arranged in a circle to look like a wreath.
Spoon the chicken salad on top. Peel and slice the avocado and place three slices on top of each of the chicken-filled lettuce cups. Sprinkle with the bacon pieces and toasted pumpkin seeds. Season with a little salt and pepper and serve.
Prepare Ahead: The chicken can be marinated up to 24 hours ahead. Assemble the dish, minus the avocado, up to 2 hours in advance, then peel and slice the avocado and add to the platter just before serving to prevent it discolouring.
Mary’s Classic Tip:
* To toast pumpkin or other seeds, place in a dry pan and toss over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on them as they burn easily.
CHILLING TIME: A minimum of 2 hours (to marinate) / COOK TIME: 4–5 minutes (for the bacon).
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