Chicken Salad with Preserved Lemons and Basil

Summer is sizzling in Seattle and I couldn’t be happier! The warm mornings find me slipping out back with my iced coffee to enjoy the sounds of the day as it comes to life. The squeals of neighbor kids squirting water guns, baby chickadees chirping in our bird house, float planes flying overhead and sprinklers whooshing are comforting sounds to signal that summer is truly here.

With these hot days come balmy evenings and a desire for lighter dinners. A perfect time to start chopping up some of the sunny preserved lemons we are cooking with this month for Tasting Jerusalem! Preserved lemons can be found at gourmet shops and specialty kitchen stores, but with some time, they can easily be made at home.

Fresh lemons are slit open and stuffed with salt.

After sitting in a jar for a week, the lemons are covered with lemon juice and olive oil (and, if you prefer, a hot chile or fresh herb). They are then tucked away for a month to do their magic. The lemons transform into a salty, citrusy punch of flavor to which you will quickly become addicted. You will start adding them to salads and grains and stews and ... well, you get the picture. Usually only the skin is sliced or diced to eat, but I like to use the whole lemon. These yellow orbs keep for months, as long as they are covered with olive oil. The longer they sit, the better they become.

As I slipped a lemon out of the jar, I caught a whiff of basil. My basil plant has been going wild in the sunshine and if there is a scent that captures summer for me, it’s fresh basil. We’ve been eating lots of leafy salads and I wanted to make something a bit more substantial, yet with minimal cooking. Chicken salad!

Chicken salad is terrific to make ahead or in stages. I poached some chicken breasts on the stove top in the morning, before the heat of the day took over. Later, I shredded them and added homemade mayo, fresh lemon juice, basil and half a preserved lemon.  The salad can be eaten right away or chilled for a few hours, making it ideal to stash in a cooler. The preserved lemon and chicken are beautiful together, with the lemon adding bright bursts of briny flavor to every bite. The basil rounds out the salad with its floral, anise-like taste. It made a simple, satisfying dinner for us, eaten to the sounds of a summer day settling into the evening.

Chicken Salad with Preserved Lemon and Basil
Serves 2-3 as a light supper

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (roughly 1 1/2 pounds)
1 fresh lemon, sliced in half to juice
2 tablespoons mayo (preferable homemade)
1/3 cup basil, roughly chopped
1/2 preserved lemon, rinsed and roughly chopped (for a less salty flavor, you can start with 1/4 preserved lemon)
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in a sauce pan. Add enough water to almost cover and squeeze in the juice from half a lemon. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cover. Poach the chicken for about 20 minutes, until it is cooked and can be easily cut. Let cool in the broth. Shred the chicken and set aside or chill until ready to use.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the chicken with the mayo, basil, preserved lemon, pepper and the juice of the other half of the fresh lemon. Gently stir and taste for pepper. The preserved lemon will add plenty of salty flavor. Serve right away or chill for up to a few hours. You can serve on a bed of lettuce or make sandwiches.

Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini and Sumac: Tasting Jerusalem

I’ve embarked on a culinary adventure. This is a new journey, one where I am cooking virtually with a community that shares a love for trying unique flavors and exploring a cookbook in depth. I couldn’t be happier! The inspiration for this group comes from two friends, Beth Lee of OMGYummy and Sarene Wallace. We are cooking from Jerusalem, the treasure of recipes created by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Each month, we’ll focus on a spice and some selected recipes, and share our experiences and what we’re learning as we cook.

To kick off this first month, we’ve been cooking with sumac, a deeply red spice that is prevalent in Middle Eastern cooking and brightens dishes with its rather tart, lemony zip. It is sprinkled on top of Kohlrabi Salad, which was the first recipe I made from the book. Now, I’ve only bought kohlrabi once before and normally I would have paused over this recipe and then moved on to another since this is not a vegetable in my usual repertoire. Am I ever glad I made it! Before peeling and chopping the kohlrabi, I made sure to show the purple bulbs to my sons (to deepen their veggie education!). Its texture is crisp, like an apple, and when combined with refreshing mint, peppery watercress and a creamy dressing of yogurt, sour cream, mascarpone and sumac, it is dazzling.

I am continually drawn to the ends of cookbooks now, where the condiment recipes are usually stashed. Condiments and other such fundamental recipes are the building blocks of so many dishes. If you have good quality sauces and such on hand, it’s a snap to put together a delicious meal in no time or add a bit of flourish. Jerusalem does not disappoint! In order to prepare the Braised Eggs with Lamb, Tahini and Sumac, I saw I would need preserved lemons and harissa. Yes! Preserved lemons take some time (about 5 weeks), so I quickly salted some lemons and started the process.

But in the meantime, I still wanted to make this lamb recipe. So I also happily pickled some lemons overnight with red chile, salt, garlic and other spices. I’m finding lots of ways to use these lemons (tuna salad!) and I’ll be making them again and again.

And then there is harissa ... this one’s a winner. Red peppers and chiles, coriander, cumin and caraway toasted and ground, garlic and lemon - harissa has it all and pops with taste. I made a double batch knowing we’d fall in love with it, and next time I’ll be tripling it.

With the condiments prepared, the Braised Eggs with Lamb comes together quickly. Ground lamb, onions and garlic are sautéed and seasoned with sumac and cumin, then harissa and pickled lemons add a punch of flavor - a little tart, a little spicy. Braising the eggs in this mixture reminded me a bit of cooking eggs in tomatoes and peppers for shakshuka (another incredible dish). Charred tomatoes and more sumac top off the dish beautifully. There were many happy sighs as we ate dinner that night! If you’d like to make Braised Eggs with Lamb the recipe can be found here.

It is such a pleasure to learn, share and discover together. I can’t wait for next month!

If you’d like to join us in cooking or follow along, please do! Tasting Jerusalem is a virtual cooking community exploring the vibrant flavors and cuisine of the Middle East through the lens of Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Ottolenghi and Tamimi published by Ten Speed Press. You can follow along and cook with us by subscribing to omgyummy.com, following the hashtag #TastingJrslm on Twitter and Instagram, and liking our Facebook page.