Chicken Caesar salad

Chicken Caesar salad

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil


• 2 chicken breast fillets, halved horizontally


• 4 rashers bacon, rind removed, cut into 1cm strips


• 2 slices bread, cut into 1cm cubes


• 4 eggs


• 3-4 baby cos lettuce, leaves picked, washed and dried


• 1/2 red onion, very finely sliced


• 1 cup (250ml) prepared Caesar salad dressing


• 1/2 cup freshly shaved parmesan

Method

1. Fill your kettle with water and bring to the boil.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large non-stick frypan over medium high heat. Cook the chicken breasts for 3 minutes on each side or until starting to brown, and cooked through. Test by piercing with a skewer - if juices run clear the chicken is cooked. Set aside under foil.

3. In the same pan, fry the bacon until golden and starting to crisp up. Remove the bacon from the pan with tongs, leaving behind the fat that has rendered out of the meat. Add the oil to the pan and fry the torn bread until golden and crisp. Remove from the fry pan.

4. Wipe out the pan with paper towel and fill it to about 4cm deep from the kettle. Allow the water to come to a very gentle simmer. Crack eggs one at a time and gently slide into the simmering water. Fresh eggs are important for this process, so that the egg whites stay together with the yolk.

5. When the white is firm and the yolk still runny, very carefully remove each egg from the water, rest the spoon on paper towel for a moment and place on a plate.

6. To assemble the salads, toss the lettuce leaves and red onion with the dressing and divide between four large bowls or plates. Top with the grilled chicken and bacon. Gently sit the poached egg on top, then scatter with the bread and anchovies. Finish off with a generous shaving of parmesan.

Enjoy! To follow Julie on twitter visit @_JulieGoodwin