Marinated chicken in salad with mango, goat cheese and walnuts

Anyone else around here who eats salads during the summer? And anyone else who at the end of July no longer has new ideas and ends up eating the same one all the time? I recognize that having a varied repertoire and to the taste of the whole family is not always easy, that's why I try different salads and those that I like the most at home I keep them to share with you. And, what do you want me to tell you, this marinated chicken salad with mango, goat cheese and walnuts has gone out of the gates!!

We are also going to take the opportunity to prepare our own pickled chicken , in this case breast, and I am sure that you are going to turn this salad into a regular dish at home, because it is delicious, it does not take long to prepare and it solves more than a dish these days that you don't feel like cooking much, either to prepare this salad, or to prepare some toast with good bread and some roasted peppers, for example.

In this recipe I indicate the quantities to prepare the brisket necessary for this salad, approximately, but as I already told you that it will solve many dinners and lunches and it will give us the same work to prepare one brisket than two, I recommend that you double the quantities and prepare marinated breast to spare, that you will see how at home it will not last at all!

oh! What do you not know very well what is that marinade ? Well, don't worry, I'll tell you: It is a technique to preserve food that consists of cooking said food in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar and spices . With the same name we also know the food obtained with this technique.

It is a preparation of those of a lifetime, whose main purpose was to preserve food thanks to its cooking in an acid medium, vinegar, which prevents the growth of bacteria. And although nowadays, especially in the case of meats, it is no longer necessary to pickle them to preserve them, since we have refrigerators and freezers, in my opinion, it is one of the most delicious dishes in our kitchen, so we must not stop preparing them, even if it is only for pleasure.

And for this type of dish I can't think of anything better than my beloved Le Creuset cocotte , because it distributes the heat evenly and the slow cookers are fantastic, because it cleans up phenomenally,…and because it's beautiful!! Or not? You can also use it without fear to marinate chicken since its enameled surface is not damaged by acid. What I tell you... Perfect!

Caractère Revol porcelain plates , Revol porcelain salad bowl , Pallarès stainless steel table knife , Revol porcelain oven tray and Evolution Le Creuset Round Cocotte

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast
• 125ml vinegar
• 125 ml of water
• 60ml olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 6 or 7 black peppercorns
• Salt

For the salad:

• 200 g lamb's lettuce, arugula or assorted lettuces
• pickled breast
• 1 large mango
• 100 g of goat cheese
• Walnuts
• Olive oil
• Vinegar
• Salt

Preparation

For the pickled breasts

1. First of all, and with the help of a very sharp knife , we clean the breast of any fat remains that it might have and put it in a bowl .
2. Then we cut the onion into eighths and add it.
3. Peel the garlic and crush it (without crushing it, giving it a single blow) and also add it to the bowl.
4. Add the vinegar, water and oil, as well as the bay leaf, salt, black pepper (whole grains) and cloves.
5. We take the bowl to the fridge and leave the breasts marinating for at least 12 hours (it can be up to 24 hours).
6. Once the resting time has elapsed, we put all the ingredients in the Le Creuset Cocotte and put over medium heat until it starts to boil.
7. At that time we lower the heat, put the lid on the cocotte and cook for approximately 30 minutes.
8. After 30 minutes, we check the doneness of the breasts, since depending on their size, 30 minutes may be enough or they may need a few more minutes (it can be up to 40 minutes approximately). To know if they are ready, we must be able to pierce the meat of the breasts with a knife without noticing resistance, that they are tender but without falling apart.
9. Once they are ready, remove the cocotte from the heat.
10. We let the breasts cool inside the cocotte and when both the breasts and the pickle are cold, we take them to the fridge in a container, preferably with a lid .

For the salad

1. We start by taking the breast out of the fridge so that it is not so cold when it is time to eat the salad (we can even heat the breast and eat the salad warm, it is also delicious that way).
2. We put the chicken breast on a board and cut it into cubes or thin slices, as we like, and reserve.
3. Peel the mango and cut it into cubes of approximately 2cm. We booked.
4. Cut the goat cheese into slices or, if you prefer, remove the rind and crumble it and set aside as well.
5. If necessary, wash the lettuce and drain it well with the help of a centrifuge so that it is dry, and put it in a salad bowl or directly on the plates if we are going to serve the plated salad.
6. We added the breast, the mango and the cheese that we had reserved and some peeled walnuts.
7. Season with oil, vinegar and salt (for my taste the ideal ratio is 3 parts of oil to 1 part of vinegar), or if you prefer, with the pickle of the breasts and olive oil (in this case I put 1 part of oil to 1 marinade, since the marinade vinegar is reduced with water and olive oil).
8. Remember that the dressing must be added just before serving the salad so that the green leaves do not remain limp.

Evolution Le Creuset Round Cocotte , De Buyer stainless steel spoon , Caractère Revol porcelain plates and Revol porcelain salad bowl

Grades

• The marinades do great when they rest once they are cooked because the flavors are accentuated, so we can prepare the marinated breast the day before and at the time of eating we will only have to prepare the salad.

Now you have the base of my favorite salad, but you can adapt it to your liking, changing the fruit, for example with some raspberries it would be perfect, or the nuts (you can use hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds... etc) or even different vinaigrettes, and thus be able to vary so as not to get bored. I hope you enjoy it!!