- A bundle of asparagus
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp sumach plus a few pinches
- 2 red onions
- ½ cucumber
- A punnet of tomatoes
- 1 lemon
- A handful of flat leaf parsley
- A handful of mint
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Pan with a lid
- Colander
- Cling film
- Rolling pin
- Large bowl
- Frying pan
- 1.
Fill the kettle and boil it. Snap the woody ends off your asparagus. Fill a pan with hot water from the kettle. Bring it to the boil. Put the asparagus in the pan and blanch for 1 min. Drain. Cool under running water.
- 2.
Lay the chicken between 2 pieces of cling film. Using a rolling pin, bash them flat so they’re about ½ cm thick. Rub ½ tsp oil, ½ tsp sumach and a little salt and pepper over each piece of chicken. Put to one side.
- 3.
Peel and dice the onions. Halve the cucumber lengthways. Scoop out the seeds using a teaspoon then dice it. Halve the tomatoes. Scoop out the seeds. Finely dice them. Chop the asparagus into small pieces, leaving the tender tips whole.
- 4.
Finely grate or pare the zest from the lemon. Juice it. Pick the leaves off the parsley and mint sprigs. Finely slice any large leaves. Keep the smaller ones whole.
- 5.
Mix all the veg and most of the herbs together in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest with a good drizzle of juice. Add 1 tsp olive oil, a few pinches of sumach and a little salt to taste. Mix.
- 6.
Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the chicken. Cook for about 5-8 mins, turning once, till golden brown.
- 7.
Pile the Shirazi salad onto plates. Top with the chicken. Scatter over the remaining herbs. Serve straight away.
- Tip
Multi tasking
Sumach is a spice from the berries of the Rhus family of flowering plants. It’s been used since the 11th century to flavour food, tan leather and as medicine. It gives tonight’s dinner a lovely lemony flavour.