Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken thighs trimmed
- 1 iceberg lettuce roughly shredded/chopped
- 200 grams cherry tomatoes cut into half
- ½ lebanese cucumber thinly sliced
- 1 avocado seeded, peeled and sliced
- 1 cob of corn
- 4 slice streaky bacon
- 1 tablespoons maple syrup
Honey and Mustard Sauce
- ⅓ cup wholegrain dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mustard, olive oil, honey and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Combine 1/3 of the honey mustard sauce in a large mixing bowl with the chicken thighs. Stir to coat, then marinade for at least 2 hours. Set aside the remaining sauce in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Preheat oven to 190 °C. Line a tray with baking paper or foil and spread the bacon out over the tray. Brush the bacon with the maple syrup.
- Bake the bacon in the oven for approximately 20 mins, turning halfway through. Cook the bacon until fairly crisp.
- Preheat your barbecue grill on a medium heat. Add the chicken to the grill and cook, turning occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Add the corn to the barbecue while the chicken is cooking and lightly char it all over. Remove the corn from the barbecue and use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the cob.
- To assemble the salad: Divide the lettuce between 4 bowls. Top each bowl with chicken, tomatoes, corn kernels, cucumber and avocado. Break the bacon into smaller pieces and scatter over the top. Pour over the reserved honey mustard sauce and gently toss to combine.
- Best served immediately.
This recipe speaks to my heart with some of its classic flavors. For this salad we combine sweet honey with wholegrain mustard to make that classic honey mustard flavor. Not only does this flavor make for an incredible salad dressing but it also acts as a marinade for the chicken. Combine these flavors with crispy bacon and some fresh salad ingredients and you have the ultimate summer salad.
The Marinade and Salad Dressing
Start by combining the mustard, honey, olive oil and vinegar in a medium bowl. Next season with a generous crack of salt and pepper. Please note that this recipe uses white balsamic vinegar as part of the sauce, which is generally sweeter and lighter in flavor than the darker balsamic vinegar varieties.
Set aside 1/3 of the dressing mixture and place the remaining 2/3’s into the fridge, covered, until ready to serve. Take the reserved dressing and combine it with the chicken in a large mixing bowl. Ensure the chicken is sufficiently coated all over and then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to marinade.
Preparing the Bacon
Start by lining a baking tray with either some foil or some baking paper. Spread the bacon out over the baking tray and then use a pastry brush to lightly coat each strip of bacon with maple syrup.
Transfer the bacon to the oven which has been preheated to 190 °C. Bake the bacon for approximately 20 minutes, ensuring you turn it halfway through. The bacon should be fairly crisp when done. Set the bacon aside to cool while you finish preparing the rest of the salad.
Grilling the Honey Mustard Chicken
Take the marinaded chicken and drain off the excess marinade. Brush the chicken with some additional oil and then season with some salt and pepper. Add the chicken to your barbecue grill and cook for about 10 minutes, until cooked through.
Alternatively, the chicken can be cooked in an air fryer or oven. To do this, preheat the oven to 180 °C and then cook the chicken for 15-18 minutes, until cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, add the corn cob to the grill and lightly char all over.
Assembling the Honey Mustard Salad
While the chicken cooks away on the grill, use the time to prepare the remaining salad ingredients. Start by slicing the avocado, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. Next, break the bacon into smaller pieces and remove the corn kernels from the cob (see Jalapeno and Sweetcorn Fritters for more detailed instructions on how to do this).
To assemble, first divide the shredded lettuce between 4 bowls. Divide the tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, bacon and corn between each bowl. Lastly, slice the chicken and place on top of each bowl. Pour a generous amount of dressing over each salad and then gently toss to combine.
I prefer serving the chicken warm but the bacon and corn cold. You may prefer letting everything cool before serving.
Tips for Extracting Maximum Flavor
Here are a few tips that can help to create the best flavors when making this salad:
- Using fresh ingredients and prepare the salad just before serving. This salad is best eaten when fresh.
- Mix up the salad by trying different combinations of ingredients for the salad. Roasted capsicum, pumpkin and beetroot all work great in this salad.
- You can improve the crisp factor on a lettuce by adding the lettuce leaves to a bowl of iced water. The cold water will help re-hydrate the lettuce, improving its crispiness. Just before serving, transfer the leaves to a salad spinner, remove the water and then chop.
- To stop avocado from browning, slice your avocado in half and remove the stone. Take the two avocado halves and soak them in a small bowl of lemon juice, until needed. Just before serving, peel off the skin and slice into pieces.
