Moroccan Chicken Salad

October 28, 2003

During our recent trip to Brisbane we stayed in serviced apartment with kitchen facilities. As a food writer I like to check out local produce when I travel and it can be frustrating at times if I don't have a kitchen to work in. Hotels rooms are all very well, but there are times when you want to prepare a snack.

One of the things I really enjoy about Queensland is the tropical fruit. During a drive to the Sunshine Coast north of the city we came across a little roadside fruit and vegetable shop. I didn't need a second invitation to check out the produce.

A bin in the front was full of small locally grown pineapples - three for a dollar. We'd passed the pineapple fields just down the road and these were fresh and ripe, unlike the ones at home that are shipped in still on the green side and never ripen. Three pineapples went in the basket. There were generous bags of sun ripened tomatoes for a couple of dollars, small avocados at three for 50 cents, luscious mangos. I was getting in my stride by now. A few fresh limes for the duty free Bombay Sapphire, a papaya, rock melon, watermelon, several passionfruit. And, of course, we couldn't resist the fresh macadamia nuts and bought a couple of containers of roasted nuts - one salted, the other with honey.

The box of goodies cost about $15 for the fruit and another few dollars for the nuts.

We had some grand breakfasts - wonderful tropical fruit salads or chopped fresh tomatoes on toast.

The first thing I noticed in the supermarket when I returned home were the Queensland rockmelons at nearly $6 apiece.

One day we were cruising up (or was it down) the river in one of the large catamarans that is part of the public transport system. On the return journey back to the city we stopped off at New Farm, a large park with beautiful rose gardens, giant Moreton Bay figs and a spectacular lot of huge, purple flowered jacaranda trees. Many locals were picnicking under the trees but all we had between us was a stick of chewing gum so we went over to Watt, a restaurant sited in the old Powerhouse, now an arts centre.

It had been a very busy Sunday there and there were a few gaps in the menu but the friendly staff indicated what was still available and we both chose a char-grilled Moroccan chicken salad with avocado, tomato, bittersweet greens and cucumber, and mint relish.

It was just the right note for a meal by the river and a nice bottle of Australian chardonnay. Life doesn't get much better than that.

Here's my version of the dish.

Moroccan Chicken Salad

300g chicken fillets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon each of paprika, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, dried thyme, ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

Halve the chicken fillets. Sprinkle them with the oil, rubbing it on. Mix together the remaining ingredients and sprinkle over the chicken. Set aside in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile make up individual salads on each person's plate using:

Rocket leaves
Avocado slices sprinkled with a little lemon juice
Halved cherry tomatoes
Thin slices of Lebanese cucumber

Heat a little oil in a pan and stirfry the chicken until it is cooked.

Serve on top of the salads and sprinkle with a dressing made of:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Grind over some fresh black pepper.