HAVING served this dish to 500 hungry guests at the Sandbanks Beach Polo Championships this year, Managing Director of Beales Gourmet at The Italian Villa, Tony Beales, shares his secret summer salad recipe with you!

Grilled Merrifield Farm chicken salad

with summer vegetable garden, citrus mayo,

truffle & parmesan dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the chicken…

• 4 free range chicken breast, skin on, de-boned

• 3 cloves of garlic

• Tarragon, rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme

• Virgin olive oil

• Salt & pepper

For the dressings…

• 500ml good quality mayonnaise

• 1 lemon

• Lemon powder (or yellow colour)

• 2tbs white truffle oil

• 100g freshly grated parmesan

For the salad…

• 10 pods of fresh broad beans

• 5 pods of fresh peas

• 4 baby carrots

• 1 of each colour heritage carrots (black, white, orange)

• 1 bunch asparagus

• 1 fennel bulb

• 12 baby new potatoes

• 2 medium sized beetroots

• Fresh mint

For the edible dirt…

• 100g smoked salted nuts

• 100g savoury crumble

• 1tbs coco powder

To decorate…

• Edible flowers, baby basil, micro water cress

Method

Blend the garlic, fresh herbs and olive oil into a thick paste and marinate the chicken breasts for up to 3 days in the fridge. Grill and cook the chicken just before serving. For best results allow the chicken to cool at room temperature after cooking, then cut and serve. (Only if you are eating the salad within 1 hour of cooking the kitchen, otherwise refrigerate the chicken when cool until you are ready).

Wash and prepare all the vegetables. Cook the broad beans and peas, cook and mix with olive oil and chopped fresh mint. Cook the asparagus, beetroot and baby potatoes. Shave the fennel and heritage carrots on a fine slicer and leave in iced water. Leave the baby carrots raw.

For the lemon dressing, mix the zest and juice of the lemon with half the mayonnaise with the lemon powder or yellow colour. Put into a squeezing bottle if you have one. For the truffle & parmesan dressing, mix the truffle oil and grated parmesan with the remaining mayonnaise and season to taste.

For the edible dirt, make a small amount of savoury crumble by mixing flour and butter together and baking until golden. Blend up the smoked nuts and mix together with the coco powder. This will give you a tasty earth-like course powder.

To build the dish, spoon on the truffle mayonnaise down the centre of the plate, sprinkle on the edible dirt. Start with the broad bean and pea mix, then place 3 baby potatoes, 2 pieces of beetroot and 2 heads of asparagus in the centre. Then cut and place your chicken around the edges of the plate. Then squeeze on 3 dots of lemon mayonnaise. Then carefully place on the shaved carrots and fennel. Finish the dish by placing on the baby carrot, edible flowers, baby basil and watercress.

This dish sounds complicated, but believe me when I say it isn’t! The dish represents all the flavours of summer. You can prepare lots of the vegetables and have it all over again the next day!

**We prepared this dish at the 2015 Sand Polo event for 500 people over 2 days!