If you love a caesar salad you’re going to love this spiced chicken tahini caesar salad with olive oil toasted sourdough pieces. The dressing alone is worth making it for.
We're using tahini instead of a mayonnaise base which is a little healthier and gives a beautiful nutty creamy flavour that goes so well with the spiced chicken with cumin, thyme, oregano, and lemon. So so good.
Now for this recipe, I've partnered with Miele and am using my combi steam oven (which I'm loving at the moment). We're going to roast and steam the chicken at the same time which is super convenient and gives a delicious caramelised moist result. If you don't have a steam oven simply bake the chicken thighs in a conventional oven at 180°C/350°F for 30 minutes and then allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing (I've included both methods below).
Today I've sliced the chicken and arranged it through the salad but you could also serve it separately alongside the salad if you prefer.
The chicken can be marinated a day before serving and the dressing can also be made a day or two in advance.
To ensure the lettuce stays fresh and crisp dress the leaves and toss the salad together just before serving.
Also, to prevent soggy lettuce I like to use a salad spinner during prep to ensure the lettuce is completely dry.
Hope you love this one, and as always please let me know if you make the recipe @gatherandfeast, and feel free to ask any questions. Enjoy!
Ingredients
20 minutes preparation time + 35 minutes cooking time (plus cooling time) 
4 Spiced chicken
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated or crushed
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp dried oregano leaves
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 6 chicken thigh fillets (skinless and boneless)
Olive oil toasted sourdough pieces
- 1/2 loaf crusty sourdough bread, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 60ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- Flakey sea salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Tahini Caesar dressing
- 3 anchovies, finely chopped
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated or crushed
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 3 tbsp hulled tahini
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 20 g (1/4 cup) fresh finely grated parmesan - grana padano or parmigianno reggiano
To serve
- 3 little gem or baby cos lettuces, leaves separated
- 1/2 lemon
- 20 g (1/4 cup) shaved parmesan
- Lemon zest and black pepper, to taste
Method
Spiced chicken
USING COMBI STEAM OVEN
- Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper, to taste, in a bowl.
- Add the chicken and toss well to coat.
- Place the chicken pieces on a grilling and roasting insert in a universal tray.
- Place the tray on shelf level 2 and bake on Combi mode: Fan Plus at 170°C + 40% moisture and cook for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and rest the chicken for 10 minutes.
USING CONVENTIONAL OVEN
- Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper, to taste, in a bowl.
- Add the chicken and toss well to coat.
- Place the chicken pieces on a baking tray.
- Bake at 180⁰C/350⁰F for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and rest the chicken for 10 minutes.
Olive oil toasted sourdough pieces
- Place the sourdough pieces on a baking tray and toss together with enough oil to coat the bread.
- Season to taste.
- Place the tray into the oven in the last 10 minutes of the chicken’s cooking time.
Tahini Caesar dressing
- In a large serving bowl mash the chopped anchovies and garlic with a fork to form a paste.
- Add the mustard and lemon juice, whisk to combine.
- Add the tahini and water, whisk to combine.
- Then whisk in the olive oil and parmesan.
To serve
- Place the lettuce leaves over the dressing in the serving bowl and squeeze with the juice of half a lemon.
- Gently toss to coat the leaves in the dressing.
- Slice the chicken and arrange over the dressed leaves.
- Scatter the olive oil toasted bread pieces and parmesan over the salad.
- Sprinkle with lemon zest and pepper and serve.
Free Resources
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