Grilled Chicken Salad with Bell Peppers

A wonderful combination of tangy taste and crunchy texture, bell peppers are the Christmas ornaments of the vegetable world. Beautifully shaped glossy exterior with a wide array of vivid colors ranging from green, red, yellow, orange, purple, brown to black. Red peppers are high in vitamin C, vitamin A and are an excellent source of vitamin B6. This recipe is adapted from Living the G.I. Diet by Rick Gallop ( a book based on the glycemic index). There are many books on the market explaining glycemic index but this version is simple to use and understand. The G. I. diet is as simple as following a traffic light: eat anything and everything you want from the green light column, sample foods from the yellow, avoid red. This salad gets the ‘green’ light!

Serves 4
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon Asian chili paste (can substitute with red pepper flakes)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 red bell peppers
2 yellow bell peppers
6 cups of mesclun greens
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat bbq or grill pan. In a bowl whisk together soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the oil, coriander, ginger, garlic and chili paste. Add the chicken breasts and toss well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

Meanwhile, cut the bell peppers into quarters (discard stems and seeds). Place peppers on the grill over medium high heat. Grill until skins start to blacken (10 minutes) and remove to a plate. Place the chicken breasts on the grill over medium high heat and grill, turning once, until no longer pink inside (4-6 minutes per side). Remove from grill and place on cutting board. Chop the grilled peppers and chicken into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, toss the chicken and peppers with the greens, the remaining oil, vinegar and salt.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: You can use the chicken hot off the grill for the salad or serve it cold. Roast the peppers and chicken if you don’t have a bbq. Place the peppers on a baking sheet in a 200c oven until the skin of the peppers is lightly blackened (10-15 min). Bake the chicken at the same temperature for about 12 minutes or until no longer pink inside. The marinade would go well with other meats such as pork, beef etc. For another serving idea, the salad can also be stuffed into half of a whole wheat pita bread.