
Lemon-tahini kale, chicken and apple
A dressing with parmesan, tahini and Worcestershire in it, which is more than it sounds.
At a Glance
Story
Cut the chicken up before it cooks rather than slicing it after. Bite-size pieces take a seasoning rub on every face instead of two, and they are done in seven minutes rather than eighteen, which matters when the rest of the meal is a salad that will not wait. A whole breast is the right call when you want it to rest and stay juicy. This is not that dish.
Ingredients
- 10 oz chicken breastcut into bite-size pieces
- 6 oz kaleleaves stripped and thinly sliced
- 4 carrotshalved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 applequartered, cored and thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup Parmesangrated
- 2 cloves garlicgrated to a paste
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 lemonquartered
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
The dressing is the point. Read the ingredients and trust them, because it does not sound like it will work and it does.
- Oven to 450°F. Carrots onto a sheet pan with oil, salt and pepper. Roast 15 to 17 minutes, until browned and tender.
- Meanwhile, the kale into a large bowl with the juice of two lemon wedges and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season, then work it hard with your hands and leave it to sit.
- Toss the chicken with the paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Medium nonstick pan, oil, medium-high. In one layer, undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes, then stirring 3 to 4 minutes more, until cooked through.
- Whisk the tahini, Parmesan, Worcestershire, garlic paste, the juice of the remaining lemon wedges and 2 tablespoons of water. It will seize and then loosen. Season.
- Carrots, apple and the dressing into the kale. Toss thoroughly, taste, season.
- Chicken on top, sesame seeds over.
Slice the apple last. Ten minutes on a board and it browns, and this is a salad where you can see everything.
More to cook

Crisp rice cakes and sausage in a ketchup glaze
Rice cakes fried until they crackle, then lacquered in ketchup and miso with the sausage.

A full course of Italian penicillin
Chicken soup's glamorous Italian cousin, with a spicy crumb and a cold lemon dollop.

Harissa shrimp broiled over a tray of greens
The greens go in first with half a cup of water, and the shrimp only arrive once the broiler takes over.

Salt and pepper dumplings straight from the freezer
Frozen potstickers and green beans, tossed at the last second in salt, sugar and more black pepper than seems wise.

Garlic noodles the way San Francisco does them
Two heads of garlic, plenty of butter and three bottles from the cupboard, done in the time it takes to boil the pasta.

Shrimp over creamed corn, and rather a lot of feta
Corn simmered soft in cream and butter, then blitzed until chunky and used the way you would use grits.

Creamy lemon spaghetti with a Sichuan pepper buzz
Crème fraîche, miso and lemon make the sauce, and toasted Sichuan peppercorns go in twice so your lips hum.

Chicken sausage and lemon, baked as a lasagna
A lasagna that went on holiday and came back with a tan and a lemon habit.

Pumpkin pasta with sausage and crisp sage
Tinned pumpkin, Gruyère and a sheet pan to crisp the lot.

Sausage lasagna spread thin for the crust
Lasagna with no layers, baked flat on a sheet pan, and an insult to nonnas everywhere.

Vodka rigatoni, baked till the tops crackle
Vodka sauce given a sheet pan, a jar of Calabrian chilis and a honey drizzle it did nothing to deserve.

Charred corn and halloumi panzanella with chili crisp
One bowl, mostly made in the morning, so the cook can sit down with the guests.

Chicken and zucchini meatballs under a feta sauce
Half the meatball is grated zucchini, which is the only reason a chicken meatball has any business being this juicy.

Dan dan noodles, served cold on purpose
The sesame and chile sauce is bossy enough to work as a dressing, so the noodles never need to be hot.

Zucchini parmesan, roasted not fried
All the comfort of the fried original, a fraction of the oil, and no pan spitting at you.