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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

Mary Berry

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.

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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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From the book: Classic by Mary Berry

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