Black Garlic Roast Chicken Summer Salad

by Sonja | Jul 31, 2023 | Dinner, Mains, Protein, Recipes, Salads

All the summery flavours of fresh sweetcorn, juicy peaches and sun ripened tomatoes in a bowl with delicious Black Garlic Roast Chicken. Topped with crunchy croutons, that soaked up all the chicken juices and creamy, fresh goats’ cheese. Together with the black garlic vinaigrette, which is oil free, this Black Garlic Roast Chicken Summer Salad makes one delicious feast. All while being incredibly good for you.

The Inspiration

I’ve made plenty of roast chicken salads over the years. The very first one inspired by this stunning recipe from Jamie Oliver. And while I kept the idea with the croutons and tomatoes roasted in the chicken juices, as it’s just too good to pass on, I changed pretty much everything else many times. This summer salad is my favourite incarnation so far, as it just has so much going on.

The Chicken

I rarely have meat, so when I do, I treat it with care. Which is why I brined my free range chicken for this recipe in a buttermilk-black-garlic-brine with pulverised shiitake mushrooms the day before. This not only keeps the chicken super juicy while roasting, it also adds incredible flavour to the meat. If you have never done it, it’s a 10min work step that will take your roast chicken game to a whole new level. This step is optional. But I urge you to try it! It also means you can just prep the day before and, apart from pushing the Black Garlic Lemon Butter under the skin, you’ll have your chicken in the oven in no time. If you don’t want salad, this will also be fantastic just with roasted potatoes, to mop up all the flavourful juices! Maybe some greens on the side. Which brings us right back to the reason I have salad with it in the first place.

Check this post for detailed instructions on how to make your own Black Garlic.

The Ingredients

Crunchy Romaine lettuce as a bed and to catch all the chicken juices. You could use any greens you like here.

Sweetcorn, fresh from the cob. You could griddle this, but my smoke alarm is (the design ideas people have!) right above my hob, which sends the alarm into a frenzy and my dogs into a panic every time I griddle something. So, to save the dogs, the neighbours and myself some trauma and sore ears, I just boiled them briefly.

Now you might just love broccoli as it is, but I really do not. Which is why I jazz it up a bit, by frying some sliced garlic gently in olive oil until golden, adding salt and lemon juice (if you love hot food, which I don’t, you could add chili or red pepper flakes too) and drizzle it over the broccoli to marinate after having it briefly blanched. One thing though: If you are using the same water for broccoli and sweetcorn, boil the corn first, as it will otherwise taste like broccoli. Have a wild guess how I know…

The onion also gets a super quick treatment of lemon juice and salt, to give it zing and take a little of the sharpness out.

Peaches add lovely sweetness while radishes add more crunch and of course more veggie content. I usually try to have at least 5 different plants in my salad, so I know I had my basic 5-a-day all in one dish. Not a hardship with a salad like this!

Of course, we need some creaminess, which comes in form of goats cheese, which I just crumbled over. You could also use feta.

The Dressing

I’m making a super quick and oil free Black Garlic Vinaigrette based on almonds here. I love to use them instead of oil, as they add flavour, protein and fibre and result in a super creamy dressing.
If you don’t have a high-speed blender or food processor, you can either use almond butter and stir with a whisk or make a classic vinaigrette and add mashed Black Garlic to it.
I have salt here in the picture, as I thought it needed extra, but found that the Tamari sauce is enough. Taste your dressing and adjust to suit you.

If you don’t have Black Garlic (go make some!) a honey-lemon vinaigrette with a fruity olive oil will work beautifully.

Meal Prep

For me, making big stunning salads like this one are, what helped me lose 70lb in a year. The whole thing comes together while the chicken is roasting. If you store the separate ingredients in containers, they keep fresh for several days. I usually quickly heat both chicken and bread with tomatoes (maybe the sweetcorn if you don’t like it cold) in a small Pyrex dish in my air fryer or oven, to re-crisp the bread. And it will all taste like freshly made. Maybe better, as the broccoli had time to marinate.

And with that 1h work on my weekend, I’m covered for the whole week dinner wise. If you get tired of bowls of salad (I sure don’t with this one), you could make wraps with the same ingredients. Or a sandwich with the chicken, lettuce, and tomatoes, have the rest on the side as small salad.

How would you use your roast chicken?
If you made this, I’d love to hear about your results in the comments!
What other salads would you like to see?

For more amazing Black Garlic Recipes check these:

Sumac Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Black Garlic Mushroom Sauce

Black Garlic Aioli

Black Garlic Butter with Lemon

Black Garlic Cashew Ranch Dressing

Black Garlic Brine for Chicken

Black Garlic Sourdough Bread with Chocolate

Burger with Black Garlic Aioli

Mushroom Spinach Pasta Bake with Black Garlic

Black Garlic Mushroom Salad with Berries and Blue Cheese

Sourdough Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Black Garlic

For an entirely different take on Chicken in Salad, check my Lentil Mango Salad with Mango Coconut Lime Chicken.
Have Black garlic left over and need a surprising dessert? Try these delicious Sourdough Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Black Garlic.

Black Garlic Roast Chicken Summer Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette

All the summery flavours of fresh sweetcorn, juicy peaches and sun ripened tomatoes in a bowl with delicious Black Garlic Roast Chicken. Topped with crunchy croutons, that soaked up all the chicken juices and creamy, fresh goats’ cheese. Together with the black garlic vinaigrette, which is oil free, this Black Garlic Roast Chicken Summer Salad makes one delicious feast. All while being incredibly good for you.

5 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Dinner, Main Course, Salad

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 540 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 chicken ideally brined (here) but that part is optional.
• 1 recipe Black Garlic Lemon Butter here.
• 1 head broccoli cut into florets
• 3 cobs sweetcorn
• 1 cup radishes thinly sliced
• 2 romaine lettuce hearts roughly chopped or ripped into bite sized pieces
• 1 red onion thinly sliced
• 2 lemons 1 juiced and zested, the other roasted with the chicken
• 3 Peaches cut into thin wedges
• 3 thick slices of sourdough bread ripped into pieces
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 Garlic bulb 3 cloves taken off it and peeled. Top cut off the remaining bulb.
• 2 sprigs of rosemary stuff into chicken
• 1 small Goats Cheese log
• Olive Oil
• Salt and if you like, some red pepper flakes
• Black Garlic Vinaigrette - Oil Free
• ¼ cup almonds soaked for 1h in hot water
• ½ cup water
• 1/3 cup black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp raisins
• 6 cloves black garlic
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 tbsp Tamari or soy sauce

Instructions

 

• Drain the almonds
• Add to high-speed blender (preferred) or food processor with all the rest of the ingredients
• Blend until creamy
• In a high-speed blender this will take under a minute. Food processor several minutes and it won’t be as creamy.
• Pre-heat your oven to 200C/400F
• Slice Black Garlic butter.
• Carefully lift the skin of the chicken breast off the meat, sliding your hands under it (I usually do this from the neck side, as the skin doesn’t rip as easy there.
• Stuff 2 slices of garlic butter under the skin of each breast
• Stuff rosemary and the juiced and zested lemon halves into the chicken cavity
• Smear most of the remaining butter all over the chicken and put it into an oven proof tin, larger than the chicken, so you can add the tomatoes halfway through the roasting
• After the chicken was in the oven for about 30min, take it out, tumble the tomatoes around it and swish in the juices a little.
• Add the rest of the garlic bulb, to have roast garlic later
• Marinate the sliced onion in the juice of 1 lemon, sprinkled with a bit of salt. It will go pretty and pink during the marinating and lose some of its sharpness.
• Cook sweetcorn for 10-15 minutes. Let it cool for a bit, then slice the kernels off the cobs with a sharp knife
• Blanch Broccoli florets for 3 minutes, then plunge into iced water
• Thinly slice garlic cloves and gently fry in olive oil until golden. Add salt, juice of 1 lemon and (if using) red pepper to oil. Leave to cool for a bit
• Drizzle the fragrant oil and garlic over your blanched broccoli and leave to stand for a while to marinate
• Once your chicken is beautiful golden brown and the juices run clear when cutting into the thickest part of the leg, take it out of the roasting tin on a plate and loosely cover with foil to rest.
• Depending on how your garlic bulb looks, you may want to take it out too at this point. If you see bit of golden brown on top of the cut parts, it’s ready
• Meanwhile, toss the bread pieces into the tin with the tomatoes and carefully turn them in the chicken-tomato juices, so they are evenly coated.
• Add back to the oven for another 10-15minutes, until the bread pieces are lightly golden brown on the tips. The goal is, to have the tops slightly crispy and the bottoms soak up most of the juices, but not burn bread or tomatoes. So, keep a close eye on them while you assemble your salad.
• While the bread is in the oven and the chicken resting, assemble the salad
• Lay a bed of romaine into the bowl (or each plate).
• Top with sliced radishes.
• Drizzle with some of the Black Garlic Vinaigrette and toss thoroughly until all the leaves have a thin coating.
• Top with some of the sweetcorn, broccoli florets and peach slices.
• Now carve your chicken into bite sized pieces
• Take the tin with bread croutons and tomatoes out of the oven.
• Spread crunchy croutons and juicy tomatoes over your salad
• Top with chicken pieces, some onion rings and creamy goats’ cheese.
• If you like, squish some roasted garlic out of its papery skin onto the chicken and the bread
• Drizzle with a little more of the vinaigrette and any of the delicious buttery chicken juices that might be left in the roasting tin
• Enjoy all the juicy, flavourful layers, knowing you are eating really healthy. Doesn’t feel like it, does it? More like an indulgent feast. That’s what I’m here for.

Notes

If you don’t have a high-speed blender or food processor for the dressing, you can either use almond butter and stir with a whisk or make a classic vinaigrette and add mashed Black Garlic to it.
If you don’t have Black Garlic (go make some!) a honey-lemon vinaigrette with a fruity olive oil will work beautifully.

For Meal prep: Store the ingredients in separate containers in the fridge to keep them fresh for about 3-4 days. Reheat croutons, tomatoes and chicken in the oven or air fryer, to crisp them back up and have your salad taste like freshly made.

Total Estimated Nutrition per Portion:
Calories: Approximately 530-550
Fat: Approximately 25-27 grams
Protein: Approximately 22-24 grams
Carbohydrates: Approximately 57-60 grams
Fiber: Approximately 9-10 grams
Sugar: Approximately 18-20 grams

Nutrition

Calories: 540kcal

Nutrition Facts

Black Garlic Roast Chicken Summer Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette

Amount per Serving

Calories

540

% Daily Value*

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword Black Garlic, For Guests, Healthy, High Fibre, High Protein, Low Calorie

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