Ode to summer (or soup and a super salad)

Recipes: Pecan-crusted chicken salad, Honey-mustard dressing, Broccoli and potato soup

Even though summer nights here in northern California are cool, no one needs a lot of heavy food after a warm day. And yet, your taste buds want something delicious and satisfying. Maybe a really great salad?

Ah, but salads can be so predictable, so. . .well, boring. Lettuce, tomato, maybe an onion or a cucumber, blah, blah, blah. Well, fuggeddabout your salad blahs. Here's a salad you'll remember with excitement, one with layers of flavor and a crisp surprise! And just to honor the blessed coolness of evening and make sure you and yours get plenty of veggies, we're going to pair it with a savory soup that sets off the sweet heat of our honey-mustard dressing to perfection.

The pecan-crusted chicken recipe is slighty more fussy than I'd ordinarily love, but so worth it. Let's go for it.

From the cook's point of view, all meals are about orchestration, whether it's pizza or the most complex banquet of dishes. It's always a challenge to make delicious, interesting, nutritious food, but the real challenge, in my opinion, is having it all ready to eat at the same time. With that in mind, here's the game plan for this dinner: 1. Make the soup, even though that recipe comes last in this post. It takes about an hour at the most, from start to finish. You can even make the soup earlier in the day and heat it just before serving, but you should plan to eat it the same day you make it. 2. Prepare the chicken breasts through crusting. 3. Make the dressing for the salad, which comes second in this post, and wash and prepare the salad ingredients, while the crusted chicken is resting in the fridge. 4. Dress the salad, arrange it on plates, and reheat the soup, while the chicken is roasting and resting.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

Adapted from a recipe in Cuisine At Home magazine

For the chicken:

• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half, sliced in half lengthwise and pounded gently to an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. (more about pounding will follow)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Dipping mixture:

• 1 egg white, beaten with a fork and mixed with
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Crusting mixture:

• 1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) mixed well with all the seasonings that follow
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• A good grind of black pepper
• Minced zest of the 1/2 lemon you used in the dipping mixture
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

For the salad:

• 3 cups mixed salad greens, such as arugula, romaine hearts, baby butter leaves, radicchio
• 1/2 small red or yellow onion (I used sweet Vidalia, which has a short season so is not always available), sliced thin
• 1/2 of a small cucumber, sliced thin
• 2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare the dipping mixture as indicated and put it on a small flat plate with a little edge, or in a pie tin. Do the same with the crusting mixture and put it on a separate plate or pie tin, or even on a piece of waxed paper. Prepare a dish with a small rack in it, like the kind you'd use to cool cookies.

Here's the plan for the chicken. Once you've cut the half breast in half lengthwise, put one piece in a baggie with a little water and seal it, pressing out the air. Using a pounding weight, or a small rubber mallet, or the bottom of a non-breakable cup or glass, gently pound the meat until it squashes out a bit and becomes a more-or-less even thickness of 1/2 inch. This helps in tenderizing the meat and also in ensuring that it will cook evenly. Do the same for the second piece of chicken breast.

Pat each piece dry with paper towels. Dip each piece of chicken in the dipping mixture, wetting both sides. Then lay the piece in the crusting mixture and turn it over a couple of times. Pile some mixture on top of it and press it gently into the chicken. Some will fall off, no problem. Now very carefully lay the pieces on the rack you've prepared and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the crust. Whew. That part's done! Not so bad, right? And the rest is a piece of cake.

When the 30 minutes is up, heat the vegetable oil in an ovenproof skillet that will hold both pieces at once without crowding. When the oil is barely smoking (you know it's going to smoke when it starts to shimmer), carefully put the chicken breasts in, laying each piece toward you in the pan so any loose crumbs fall under the chicken and make a little bed for it. Saute over medium high heat about 3 minutes. Carefully turn the chicken and transfer it to the oven to finish. It will take about 8 minutes in the oven . . . set a timer so you don't overcook it.

When you take the chicken out of the oven, transfer the pieces to a cutting board and let them rest for 10 minutes. This gives them time to distribute their juices and finish cooking, and it gives you time to finish up the salad and give the soup a last heat-up. When the chicken is done resting, slice it into medium slices and arrange them on top of the dressed salad on each plate. Be sure to sprinkle any remaining crusting bits from the cutting board and from the skillet over the salad. They're the crunchy surprise, and maybe the best part of the whole dish!

 

Honey-Mustard Dressing

Combine 4 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons cider vinegar, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and sea salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Mix with a fork or small whisk until blended.

When the chicken is nearly done, toss the salad greens, onion, cucumber, and crumbled goat cheese with the dressing in a large bowl, using your hands. You may not use all of the dressing. Divide the salad between two dinner plates, and put the sliced chicken breasts on top of it. Sprinkle the salad with the remaining crusting crumbs.

Broccoli and Potato Soup

Adapted from a recipe in Marcella Cucina

• 1/2 large yellow onion, sliced very thin
• Sea salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter (divided use)
• 3/4 pound broccoli florets, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced crosswise very thin
• 2 medium red potatoes, washed and cut into medium dice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, preferably Swansons or homemade
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 or 4 fresh basil leaves, torn (optional)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese

Put the sliced onion, a pinch of salt, all the the olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of butter in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Turn on the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is completely tender and has become colored a light brown.

When the onion is cooked, add the sliced garlic and leave the pan uncovered. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the broccoli florets and a generous pinch of salt, and cook, turning the florets over now and then, until they feel tender when you prick them with the tip of a paring knife.

Add the diced potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, turning the contents of the pan over frequently. Add the broth and cook until some of the potatoes dissolve as you stir them (20 minutes or so). The final consistency should be loosely creamy, rather than real thick.

Taste and correct for salt, and add liberal grindings of black pepper. If you are holding to heat later, put the pot aside. When you are ready to serve the soup, swirl in the torn basil (if using), the grated Parmesan, and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Serve at once in bowls.