Tandoori chicken salad with mint garlic buttermilk dressing

Just sitting here wasting hours on end wondering what the 2017 pilot feature of my here space(which is 5 years old, btw!) should look like had me delay it by more than a week. As you can see, I did decide to jump on the overtold, overused healthy resolution theme, much  similar to what I did same time, last year.  And we saw that to be a success. Right?

Taking that very reason into consideration, a quintessential January post should never run into February, where the internet will soon be flooded with pink, chocolate and edible hearts that obliterate any decent recipe demanding attention. So, it is important I rush this out the door. Today. Because the pictures taken two weeks ago are getting old. Even still, these first paragraphs I can't seem to end anytime soon.  It might be a record break, but I'm going to attempt the next ten sentences in less than an hour...maybe two..or even three. Really, who's keeping count?

I do not like resolutioning. Why do you need to tidy up eating habits, when it took all your time on earth to create the food lifestyle everyone desires to have? As many of you know, I can sometimes be that health/fitness/nutritive heathen, especially when it comes to committing my life solely to moderate and slim eating which, by the way, is truly counter intuitive to my very being. I believe healthful consumption (don't quote me on this) can also and not only be limited to slathers of butter and dashes of cream, well endowed bread, ghee laden casseroles and gloriously decked cakes. Much more than I have time to pen.

Really, though the whole spectrum of what I eat can never ever be an ending tale. It goes on. Just as the pages of this online recipe portfolio expand. Food experiences and their preparation can always be made and kept interesting. For the tastebuds. The tummy. The mind. Your existence. Hence, my theorem and guide to wellness and sanity, which I really can write an entire book on, but, then, that's a track for later, because you so need to hear this recipe.

Here is that invitation... to a salad which intrigues far more than any other food group has ever attempted. Moreover, it carries a cool factor that makes it unbelievably healthy in such a way. And by such a way, I mean the number of fusion flavors that commingle and produce a mad stunning plate of green. It is the canvas of garden contrasted with lean protein flavored better than your skinny thinking mind could ever imagine.

Tandoori chicken will just about up any salad ante. And while I've recorded here in detailed elaborateness, I did tailor this ingredient list to aid in speedy assembly, yet, still maintain pieces that scream loud enough mise en scene. Crunchy bites of bright red mini tomatoes and mellow from the avocado add adequate lift into a brilliant, right flavor direction.

The yogurt dressing is not an afterthought. It adds sufficient drama to have you actually believe you are eating at a grand Indian table as opposed to, maybe, a blah package of mixed greens(which, for sure, you shouldn't be doing). Moreover, you could enhance the same dressing with a sprinkle of Madras curry powder, a pinch of cayenne, maybe bring in a naan or two, evening out the whole show to a well rounded dinner setting.

This take on Magnificence will own your tastebuds. Not solely because it can go into a pure eating guru's recipe file. It is one of those things you should experience and will most surely benefit from. Further, you need to hear the tried testimony of a few good people, in particular, the teenager who shuns edible grass and slams any sort of vegetable that lands in her plate. It's with this almost-adult where I saw the impossible happen, all twenty times. With not a sigh of hesitation, not even an eye roll, and second servings taken , she was fascinated enough to lick the plate clean. But, we shall keep that between us. Since maintaining adolescent integrity is topmost on my list of priorities these days.

There you go. The meal that mimics a fine Indian dhaba. And a salad you'll want to spend the rest of your life with. Happy healthful 2017.

Ingredients:

For the salad~

• ½ cup yogurt
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp ground garlic
• 1 serrano pepper, minced finely
• 1-2 tsp cayenne pepper or Indian red chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• salt
• pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1 english cucumber sliced thin
• 2-3 avocado diced
• juice of half lemon
• salt, as required 

For the dressing~

• 2-3 sprigs mint 
• ½ tsp ground garlic
• juice of half lemon 
• 1 cup fat free plain yogurt
• 2-3 tbsp mayonnaise(optional)
• salt
• pepper
• ½ tsp sesame seeds(optional)

Directions:
For the salad~

• Combine yogurt ginger, garlic, serrano, cayanne, garam masala, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
• Add chicken and coat with the above ingredients. 
• Cover and chill. Keep for 30 minutes upto one hour.
• Make dressing(below)
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Take chicken out of refrigerator. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Turn chicken over and bake for another 20-25 minutes until juices run clear.
• Keep chicken aside. 
• In a large bowl, combine spinach, tomatoes, cucumber.
• When chicken is cooled, slice and place over or toss with vegetables.
• Stir together avocado and lemon juice. Sprinkle salt if required. Add to salad.

For the dressing~

• Throw in the all ingredients from mint to pepper, leaving out sesame seeds, into a food processor or blender and blend till combined. Add upto 1/4 water to create the desired consistency for dressing.
• Mix in sesame seeds.
• Add to salad when serving.

Notes~
Grind ginger and garlic in an electric mixer/ mini food processor or even with a mortar and pestle. You can also sub in powdered to timesave.

Adjust any or all spice to your liking for the chicken marinade. We inherently like to breathe heat, so have twice the amount of some of those beautifully colored powders:-)

 

Yay!! BKMK is 5 years old. Thinking it through, I find no logical explanation for how a slacker, such as myself, could keep it going this long. Thank you for your page visits, your likings or just coming by to pay me a visit. Hopefully 2017 will show me greater ways to surprise you (why, just being here does that, right?:)) and  lay more epic recipes at your doorsteps.

Where tandoori has also starred~

Pizza

******

"God never wastes a hurt." Christine Caine

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."2 Corinthians 1:3-4