Courtesy of Martin Cooney

Our summertime favorite!

Serves 4

1 pound chicken breast
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil—or more, if desired
Pinch of salt—to taste
1 rounded tablespoon very mild curry powder—or, to taste
1 rounded teaspoon garlic powder
1⁄2 English cucumber
6 spring onions—topped and tailed
1 celery heart—with all fibrous outer stalks removed
1⁄4 cup golden raisins
1⁄4 cup mayonnaise—or more, if desired
Baby greens mache mix
Ciabatta bread
Chilled butter

Preheat oven to 350°. Rinse chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Slice each breast lengthways into 3 pieces. In a large bowl whisk the oil, salt and curry and garlic powders. Add the chicken and stir until each piece is thoroughly coated. Lay the chicken strips in a shallow oven-proof dish large enough so that they don’t touch. Place the dish on the second shelf from the top of the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Wash the vegetables and pat dry. Peel the cucumber, leaving alternate green and white stripes along its length. Slice lengthwise, then slice each half, repeating the process until you have 8 narrow strips. Carefully chop the strips, four at a time, into thin triangles.  Slice the onions into very thin circles. Slice the celery into thin Ushaped pieces, being sure to use the tasty tender inner leaves. After 10 minutes, remove the chicken and swiftly rotate each piece 180° with metal tongs. Return to the oven immediately for another 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the chicken from this point on. Remove the dish from the oven and slice the fattest piece of chicken crosswise to check for doneness. If it is cooked through and the meat looks white, remove the chicken to a cutting board. Allow to cool.

Add the raisins to the pan juices and coat thoroughly. Return dish to oven. Check after 3–5 minutes to monitor the raisins. Keep an eye on them; give the dish an occasional quick shake if necessary in order to baste the raisins. They should be lightly roasted and the time this takes will depend on the size and type of dish, the amount of pan juices, etc. Don’t allow them to burn as it won’t take long for them to brown. When the chicken has cooled slice each strip into 1⁄2-inch-thick rounds. Transfer raisins and all pan juices to a large bowl and allow to cool. Whisk in the mayonnaise, add the vegetables and chicken.

Carefully blend to coat all ingredients. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for at least one hour. Serve on a bed of mache and baby greens accompanied with lightly toasted ciabatta bread and chilled butter.  This recipe accommodates all sorts of variations such as adding thin sliced apple, toasted nuts or radish wedges. You can easily adjust the consistency of the dressing by increasing or decreasing the olive oil and/or the mayonnaise. Increasing the raisins will give the salad a distinctly sweeter taste but will require the addition of more olive oil for the roasting process. Just be sure not to use a curry powder that is too hot ... this is very important, as is the tenderness of the chicken. Be careful not to over bake: If there is a trick to this salad, it is removing the chicken at precisely the right moment so that the meat is tender, juicy and flavorful. Be sure to use high quality (read: expensive) chicken for the best results; this isn’t an area to scrimp!  This salad keeps well in the refrigerator but must be kept tightly covered to preserve the color. It actually tastes better the next day when the flavors have had a chance to mingle and the raisins have softened, plumped and are juicy little flavor bombs hidden within the dressing.

Serve with a crisp dry white wine, or better yet, an ice-cold microbrew.

Enjoy!