I cannot with this salad, it’s just so delicious! We’ve been making it weekly throughout isolation as an easy week night meal and now that we’re back at work it’s come in super handy. Chock full of flavour and texture – it’s a delight.

I’ve roasted my own chicken and just used a ready cooked rotisserie one, both are excellent options. I usually make it with leftover roast chicken, when it’s just2 of you reusing leftovers is a must. Roasting potatoes isn’t quick but it’s low effort. There’s probably 20 minutes active cooking time going on and that’s mostly just chopping things. Don’t prep stuff before you start, do it while the potatoes cook, this way to maximise your time.

I love the crispy roast potatoes in this as I’m potato obsessed! You could replace them with any roasted root vegetable but you’ll have to adjust cooking times. Feel free to comment and ask about specific substitutions.

The dressing on this is my boyfriend’s creation and getting a recipe out of him was difficult (if you’ve watched his bread making videos on my insta you’ll understand). In the end I got sick of the answer, “you put stuff in a jar and shake it” so I watched him and took notes. And voila, we have a recipe.

I love a chopped salad, it means there’s so much flavour in every bite! This is great with raw carrot too if you have some on hand. Use it to empty your vegetable crisper and use what you have. Adding almonds instead of walnuts is also delicious.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 medium potatoes

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup sliced celery

3 radishes, sliced in semi circles

1/4 cup finely sliced spring onion

1/4 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

2/3 cup cucumber, in 2cm dice

3 Tbs diced pickles

1/3 cup shaved parmesan

1/4 cup roughly chopped roasted walnuts

1 avocado, in 2cm dice

1/2 a roast chicken, meat removed from the bone and roughly chopped into bite sized pieces

1 tsp lemon zest

2 cups kale, roughly chopped

Dressing

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 Tbs pickle brine

1.5 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Cut potatoes into bite sized chunks (see images) and place in a small pot. Add just enough water to cover and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and leave draining potatoes over the hot pot to dry out for at least ten minutes.

Meanwhile place a roasting tray in the oven to get hot. 5 minutes before you’re ready to roast the potatoes add the oil to the tray and return to the oven. Take out and add the potatoes. Turn each potato to coat in oil. Roast for 40 minutes or until golden. You shouldn’t need to turn the potatoes.

While they cook prep the other salad ingredients. Add everything but the kale to a big bowl and set aside.

Place all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake together. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

When potatoes are golden push them to one side of the tray. Tilt this side up so the excess oil goes to the other end. Add your kale to this end and toss in the oil. Season potatoes and kale with a pinch of salt and return to the oven. Give the kale 5 minutes to get a little crispy.

Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes and kale from the roasting tray and add to your salad bowl. Add half the dressing then use your hands to toss everything together, gently. Add more dressing as needed or serve the remainder on the side.

Serve!

HH. x