Sliced chicken breast over quinoa, spinach, tomato and cucumber with a lemon and olive oil dressing. Uses chicken cooked earlier or a breast pan-fried while the quinoa cools.
Chicken and turkey are done at 74 C (165 F) in the thickest part, the USDA safe minimum. The library measures the meat cooked; start with about a quarter more raw. Quinoa is measured cooked; 150 g cooked is about 50 g dry.
- Ready in15 minutes
- Prep8 min
- Cook7 min
- Serves1
Ingredients
- 120 g chicken breast (cooked weight)
- 150 g quinoa (cooked weight)
- 60 g spinach
- 100 g tomatoes (incl. cherry)
- 80 g cucumber
- 10 g olive oil
- 10 g lemon or lime juice
Method
- If the chicken is raw, flatten the breast a little, season it, and cook in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat for six to seven minutes a side until 74 C inside. Rest it for a few minutes, then slice.
- Halve the tomatoes, dice the cucumber and put them in a bowl with the spinach and the cooked quinoa.
- Whisk the olive oil and lemon juice with a pinch of salt and pour it over. Toss.
- Lay the sliced chicken on top.
What this plate gives you
The 120 g of chicken breast carries about 37 g of the 47 g of protein and the quinoa most of the rest, which is why this salad has more protein than most dinners in the library: 47 g is more than four fifths of the 56 g a day the RDA gives a 70 kg adult. At 512 calories it is a quarter of a 2,000-calorie day, and the 18 g of fat is almost all the olive oil. The chicken and the quinoa are both measured cooked, so this is a ten-minute assembly on the day after either was cooked.
Swaps
- Brown rice or bulgur for the quinoa: a few grams less protein, the same calories.
- Tinned chickpeas for half the chicken: more fibre, less protein, and it becomes a two-day lunch.
- Feta crumbled over: about 75 more calories and 4 g more protein.
Keeping it
Undressed it keeps for two days in the fridge and travels well. A dressed salad does not keep. Store the parts separately, dress when you eat, and the cooked protein keeps three to four days in the fridge.
