Salsa Salad with Roasted Chicken and Baby Greens

Nothing can go wrong with salsa. Seriously, salsa on its own is delicious enough, but it can even act like a flavor boost when pairing with other ingredients. If you love a basic and simple salsa, my salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens won't disappoints.

Salsa salad with roasted chicken and baby greens - 

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 portions)?

Roasted chicken:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Some salt
• Some black pepper

Others:

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 small canned corn kernels
• 1 small box baby salad greens
• 1/2 small onion
• 1/2 lemon (need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice from it)
• Small bundle cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Some black pepper

How?

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with foil. Transfer chicken breasts over.

Rub both sides of the chicken with some salt and black pepper. Also rub in dried oregano, onion powder, and smoked paprika. Drizzle some olive oil on top, about 1 tablespoon for each breast.

Into the oven for 15 plus or minus 2 minutes. Once fully cooked through, remove from heat and let the chicken rest till cool enough to handle by hand. Once ready, slice to big cubes and set aside.

Peel and cube the onion. Cube the tomatoes. Drain out the liquid from canned corn kernels. Finely chop the cilantro. Add all these ingredients to a big mixing bowl. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix till evenly blended. Taste and adjust if needed. 

Mix in cubed chicken and give it a few gentle mixes. Lastly fold in baby salad greens. Don't over mix it here otherwise the leaves might get too soggy early on.

Plate and crack more black pepper on top. 

If you don't like the taste of raw onion, simply soak the chopped onion to icy cold water for about 10 minutes. Drain well then add to the salad mixture. This will help drawing out some of the pungency from the onion.  

Other salad recipes:

• Avocado salad with Serrano ham and cherry tomatoes
• Cucumber and mint salad
• Pear and Danish blue cheese salad with red wine vinaigrette
• Colorful chickpea salad with white wine vinaigrette

Steamed Tofu and Egg with Ground Pork Toppings 肉末豆腐蒸蛋

This is more of a milder rice-killing dish. If making for kids, simply omit the chilies used in the recipe. However, for adults, a little spicy kick will only make the tofu even tastier. 

Steamed tofu and egg with ground pork toppings 肉末豆腐蒸蛋 - 

Ingredients?

• 3 eggs
• 1 box/300 grams silken tofu
• 1 small box/less than 1lb ground pork
• 1 string scallion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small chunk young ginger
• 1 red chili (or 1 teaspoon of chopped chili sauce, optional)
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup room temperature water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Some corn starch and water mixture

How?

If using fresh chili, destem and chop the remaining. Destem and chop the scallion. Scrape the skin of young ginger then give it a fine chop. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Drain the tofu and slice to medium size cubes. Prepare the corn starch and water mixture on the side.

Beat 3 eggs in a bowl along with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix in 1/3 cup of room temperature water and beat again. Skim-off the bubbles on top.

Prepare a serving dish with some depth that can be used in a steamer. If you're not sure, try to find something that's oven-safe. 

Add the cubed tofu to the serving dish and make sure it spreads out evenly. Pour the beaten egg over. Cover with cling foil and poke some holes to allow the steam to escape. The holes can also keep out any water dripping down.

Steam for 15 minutes. It's ok if you over-steam it, the texture of the egg and tofu mixture won't get too hard even with longer steaming time. Once ready, remove the container from the steamer and also remove the cling foil.

Not let's prepare the ground pork toppings. Use a pan and drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Switch to medium heat. Transfer ground pork over and stir-fry till almost changed color, that means almost cooked-through.

Add in garlic and ginger. Also add in chilies if using. Stir-fry till aromatic.

Add in 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Give it a mix and let it cook for a little longer. Once the pork seemed absorbed the sauce, switch to lowest heat.

Have the corn starch and water mixture ready. Mix again right before using. Pour that to the pan while stirring the ground pork at the same time to prevent clumping. There's no need to add too much corn starch and water mixture because we are aiming for a slightly thickened consistency, not a sticky gooey topping.

Pour the ground pork right over steamed tofu and egg. Garnish with some chopped scallion.

When enjoying this dish, simply scoop all the way down in order to get both the light steamed tofu and egg on the bottom together with flavorful toppings. 

This dish is quite simple to make. In fact, I can recall eating similar version of it from elementary school's lunch boxes many times in Taiwan. Definitely one of the favorites among younger kids.   

Extended reading:

• Tomato egg and tofu soup 番茄雞蛋豆腐湯