

Lunch boxes
Taking a lunch box to school or work can be much healthier than buying meals and unhealthy snacks every day.


Green salad with chicken
Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
Chicken
1 tsp (5 ml) sunflower or olive oil
2 chicken breasts on the bone, skin removed
⅓ cup (80 ml) Rooibos tea
1 bay leaf
Salad
½ tbsp (7,5 ml) prepared mild mustard
3 tbsp (45 ml) lemon juice or white grape vinegar
1 tsp (5 ml) sugar or honey
3 tbsp (45 ml) sunflower or olive oil
½ tsp (2,5 ml) dried origanum
black pepper to taste
100 g broccoli, cut into florets or thin green beans, halved
1 cup (250 ml) frozen peas, rinsed
¼ cucumber, halved and sliced
large handful mixed lettuce leaves
Method
- Chicken: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry chicken on both sides until golden brown.
- Reduce heat, add tea and bay leaf. Cover with a lid. Simmer for 20-25 minutes or until just cooked. Spoon out and allow to cool. (Freeze the pan juices and use as a stock for another meal.) Remove the bones from the chicken and shred the meat.
- Salad: Mix mustard, lemon juice, sugar, oil and origanum and season with pepper. Pour some of this mixture over the chicken to marinade the cooked meat.
- Pour boiling water over the broccoli or beans and peas. Allow to stand for 7-10 minutes or until cooked. Drain and repeat if necessary. Rinse well to cool.
- Toss the cooked veggies and chicken with cucumber and lettuce and serve with the remaining dressing.
- If you are packing the salad into a lunch box, keep the lettuce and extra salad dressing separate until you are ready to eat. Enjoy with leftover cooked veggies such as butternut, sweet potato or corn or a slice of wholewheat bread.
Tips
- Although dried herbs are convenient, fresh herbs like origanum, rosemary and thyme will be delicious in this recipe.
- Use this method to cook chicken for any dish. It is easy and the chicken stays juicy.