Chicken confit and roasted watermelon salad, a surprising recipe

Total: 40 min Diners: 2

Crisp, refreshing and sweet but not cloying, watermelon is undoubtedly the queen fruit of the summer months in Spain, but it is already starting to arrive in spring. Although we usually eat it in bites or simply chopped, watermelon has many gastronomic possibilities in the kitchen and one of them is to be part of delicious original salads that are out of the everyday sota, horse and king.

Marinated – try dipping it in soy sauce for a while or vacuum-packing it with soy sauce – or grilled, watermelon takes other dimensions being the perfect counterpoint in a salad because you find that freshness but also the warm and toasted sensation of the griddle.

Of course, if we use in our salad two sweet elements such as watermelon and corn we will have to elaborate a sharp vinaigrette with the marked acid but also balsamic that integrates everything and invites us to continue eating. The chicken confit is another important part of this original salad. If you like recipes with chicken, this way of cooking it will ensure that it is extremely juicy and, of course, not only for this salad, but you can also use it to drizzle any kind of sauce you want on top.

I can think of anything from a bechamel sauce to a puttanesca or Asian sauce. The leaves that we pose under the salad can be a mixture as in this case but you could also use spinach, chard leaves, lamb’s lettuce or arugula depending on what you have and even the freshness of cucumber would also be a good addition, which would bring us slightly closer to a Greek salad. So it is clear that we leave the mythical salad recipes to get into an original and different salad, full of nuances and new textures but that is prepared with very little effort and without rare or complicated ingredients to get.

How to make chicken confit and watermelon salad

Ingredients

Chicken breast, 1 pc Mild olive oil, 200 ml Lettuce mix, 150 g Watermelon, 100 g Canned corn, 1 pc Fresh cheese, 80 g Soy sauce, one tablespoon Salt, tbsp

For the vinaigrette

Olive oil from the confit, 3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon Sugar, a pinch Chinese black vinegar, 1 teaspoon (optional) Salt, tsp Step 1

In a small ladle put the oil and the chicken breast and heat very slightly, we must not exceed 70 ºC. Cover and leave to confit for 30 minutes. The oil should never boil, if the temperature is too high it is best to cover and turn off the heat. Halfway through the time turn the breast.

Step 2

Clean the watermelon slice, remove the rind and any seeds it may have. Cut the watermelon into portions about a centimeter thick, the size we like, more or less wide.

Step 3

Saute the corn kernels, previously well drained, with a little oil or butter at maximum heat in a frying pan. The objective is to dry them well and brown them slightly so that they change their flavor.

Step 4

In the same frying pan, with a little oil, brown the watermelon pieces also with the maximum heat. First on one side and then on the other, turning them over with the help of a spatula. When they are well browned, add the soy sauce and let them soak slightly. Add a little salt and black pepper and set aside.

Step 5

Cut the fresh cheese into small squares and arrange a bed of lettuce where we are going to plate the salad. Sprinkle with a little oil and salt.

Step 6

Drain the chicken well from the confit oil and slice; you will see that it is extremely juicy and tender.

Step 7

Prepare the vinaigrette by mixing all the elements of the vinaigrette.

Step 8

Mix the corn with the cheese and lettuce leaves and arrange the chicken and watermelon on top. Drizzle with plenty of vinaigrette and serve.