Sunny Sicily is the largest region of Italy, and island, so the cuisine has some features. Due to the fact that olives are grown on the island, in all salads you can find both the fruits themselves and olive oil. Sicilian salads are filled with the freshness of herbs and vegetables, the aroma of cooked olives and are therefore extremely popular. Tourists vacationing in Sicily and tasting its refreshing salads will definitely try to make such dishes on their own at home in order to please their friends and relatives.
In this article, we introduce some popular recipes for Sicilian salads. All products in our time can be purchased at any supermarket, therefore, problems with the preparation should not arise, despite some of the original components of the dish. A detailed explanation of the work will help to cope with the task quickly. Imagine light salads with fruits and vegetables, as well as more nutritious, meat chicken.
Sicilian Salad with Oranges
This is an incredibly light and unusual salad that can be made for breakfast. You will need the following ingredients:
- fresh fennel - the white part;
- 2 oranges (it will be interesting to look at a salad if you use one regular fruit and the other is red);
- fennel dill;
- 10 or 15 olives.
Filling for salad includes such products:
- olive oil - 3 tsp;
- juice of half a lemon;
- parsley - a few chopped branches;
- salt, black pepper, fennel seeds (optional).
Cooking salad
First, pouring is prepared for the Sicilian salad. Combine the olive oil with lemon juice in a salad bowl, finely chop the parsley branches and add to the bowl. Thin leaves of fennel look like dill, chop them finely and send them to the rest of the ingredients. It will give an unforgettable sweet musky aroma reminiscent of anise. You can add fennel seeds if you find them in our markets. Stir everything, salt and pepper. Set aside, for now, let's get down to the main products of Sicilian salad.
Divide the white lower part of fennel in half, and then cut one half into strips. You can immediately send it to fill to insist. Oranges are cooked just before serving so that the juice does not fill the salad bowl. Gently with a sharp knife remove the peel around the entire circumference of the fetus. Then cut into circles. If you get bones, get rid of them. Send chopped oranges to a salad bowl and mix. Sprinkle olives on top before serving.
Chicken Salad
Sicilian salad with chicken will appeal to everyone, without exception. First you need to boil the chicken fillet, and then season with Dijon sauce to make the meat more tender and soft.
Additional ingredients of such a salad will be:
- romaine lettuce ;
- 10 or 15 pieces of red grapes;
- as many pine nuts;
- mango pulp;
- one tomato;
- olive oil;
- salt and black pepper (to taste).
How to cook a salad
As we have already said, Sicilian salad begins to be cooked by boiling chicken. While it is boiling, take Dijon sauce, the recipe of which we will give below in the article. After cooking, the meat is pulled out of the broth, cooled, cut into small cubes and mixed with the sauce.
Pour Roman salad leaves , torn directly with your hands into the dish, to create a green salad pad. Peel the mangoes from the bones and peels and cut the flesh into cubes. Rinse the red grapes under water, divide each berry in half and remove the seeds. Cut the tomato in half and get rid of the juicy core with seeds, leaving only a dense fleshy part of the fruit. Cut it into small cubes and sprinkle on top with loose leaves together with pine nuts. Sprinkle everything with olive oil, salt and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Aged chicken in the sauce is laid on top of a slide.
Dijon sauce
Place a pot of water on the fire, and when it boils, cover with a bowl on top. This is because the sauce is whipped in a water bath. Mix 3 egg yolks with 1.5 teaspoon of lemon juice, add Β½ tsp. Dijon mustard (with grains). At the end, put 130 grams of butter in a bowl and, constantly stirring with a spoon, bring the sauce to the consistency of thick sour cream.
As you can see, cooking it is simple; all the components can easily be found in any store. It will perfectly complement the taste of our salad and will usually make dry chicken fillet softer and more juicy.
Sicilian Salad with Pineapple and Chicken
Our people have always been famous for their enterprise. It is not often possible to find a ripe and fragrant mango fruit on sale, especially if you do not live in large settlements. It is much easier to find canned pineapple, and immediately in pieces. It is often used to make salads. Olive oil was replaced with your favorite mayonnaise, and that's what happened. Consider the option of a Sicilian salad with pineapple, invented by our hostesses.
Essential Ingredients:
- 1 jar of canned pineapple slices (you can use a fresh fruit);
- pickled mushrooms (champignons were taken in our sample) - 1 can;
- boiled or fried chicken fillet (optional) - half a kilo;
- Beijing cabbage - 100 grams;
- cherry tomatoes - 8-10 pieces;
- hard cheese - 50 grams;
- salt and pepper to taste;
- mayonnaise (if you want to make a product closer to Italian salads, you can use olive oil and Italian herbs to taste).
Cooking salad
First of all, cook chicken. It can be boiled or fried in vegetable oil until golden brown. After the meat has cooled, it is cut into cubes and sent to a salad bowl. Syrup is poured from a can of pineapple, and the pieces themselves are added to the salad.
Try the mushrooms first. Often in pickled canned foods there is a large amount of vinegar. You can get rid of excess by washing mushrooms under water in a sieve. You can use market mushrooms. They are not so acidic, and you donβt have to cut them into pieces, you can use them whole.
Rinse Beijing cabbage and cut into pieces. Cherry tomatoes are added at the very end, dividing them in half or in quarters. Mix the salad with 1 tbsp. l mayonnaise, salt and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Top with grated hard cheese on top and can serve.
Interesting combination
To prepare the next salad, you will need chicken fillet - 1 pc. It can be boiled or baked in the oven in a sleeve with spices, previously salted.
The remaining components are as follows:
- 1 medium sized onion;
- hard cheese (according to your taste) - 100 grams;
- pickled cucumbers - 2 pieces;
- mushrooms - 100 grams;
- vegetable oil for frying mushrooms - 2 tsp;
- mayonnaise or mixture with sour cream for dressing.
Prepare the chicken in advance. You can do this in the evening. Mushrooms most often use mushrooms purchased in stores. Cut the onions into thin half rings and place in a pan with preheated vegetable oil. When it gets a golden hue, pour the chopped champignons into the bowl and simmer until tender. At the end, salt and pepper to taste.
Before cutting, rinse the cucumbers under wastewater to get rid of excess vinegar. Cucumbers, chicken, fillet, diced or semicircles are thrown into the salad bowl, grated hard cheese and seasoned with sauce.
In the article we examined the popular salads in Sicily and in our homeland called "Sicilian". Choose your favorite and use for festive feasts. Have a good start and don't be afraid to experiment by adding your favorite components!