Chicken Salad with Peas, Feta and Mint

By vail28

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 1 cup shelled fresh or frozen peas (no need to thaw)
• 3 small spring onions or scallions, white part only, trimmed, peeled and cut into thin rounds
• 4 ounces Greek feta cheese, crumbled (1 cup)
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, cut into a chiffonade
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey
• 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 large ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
• 2 heads baby romaine (sucrine or Little Gem), coarsely shredded
• 4 radishes, rinsed, trimmed, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
• Fine sea salt
• Creamy Lemon-Chive Dressing
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup light cream, or half and half
• 1/3 cup finely minced fresh chives
• Lemon zest

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from webmail.earthlink.net

Preparation

Step 1

For Salad:

1. Prepare a large bowl of ice water.

2. Fill the pasta pot with 3 quarts of water and bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the coarse salt and the peas and blanch until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Immediately remove the colander from the water, letting the water drain from the peas.

3. Plunge the peas into the ice water so they cool down as quickly as possible. Drain the peas and return them to the colander. (Store the peas in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours.)

4. In a large, shallow bowl, combine all the ingredients except the dressing and fine salt. Toss with just enough dressing to coat the ingredients lightly and evenly. Taste for seasoning. Arrange the salad on dinner plates, and serve.

For Dressing:

In the jar, combine the lemon juice and salt. Cover with the lid and shake to dissolve the salt. Add the cream, chives, and lemon zest. Shake to blend. Taste for seasoning. The dressing can be used immediately. (Store the dressing in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Shake to blend again before using.)

LYNNE'S TIPS

* Turn the salad into a vegetarian dish by dropping the chicken and doubling the feta, or just have a slice of toasted whole grain bread with the salad (rubbing it with olive oil and garlic isn't a bad idea). Between the peas and the whole grains, you get a complete protein.
* We lazy types would skip boiling the peas. Instead, use frozen baby peas, just defrost them and use them at room temperature. Cooking usually takes them from sweet to starchy. When sugar snap peas come into season, use them raw in the salad.
* A new lettuce to check out: Sucrine or Little Gem tastes like a cross between romaine and butter lettuce. The head is smaller than romaine, as is its center stalk, and the leaves are more uniformly crunchy and "juicier" than romaine. That mineral edge you get from butter lettuce is missing, but its flavor is nutty with a soft sweetness.