Mustard Greens & Black Kale Panzanella

I Thought I'd take a break from our Jamie Oliver Challenge and post one of my midweek meals.  I was in a bit of a hurry, but I threw together a Panzanella for Caroline and I.  

Luckily I had some local black kale and mustard greens that I'd picked up from planet organic.  If you haven't had them, the mustard greens add a depth of flavour almost a horse radish type of pungence that balanced well with the crusty bread, bacon and goats cheese.  Traditionally Panzanella is made with tomatoes, but I substituted them with some red seedless grapes for that hint of sweet/acid.

-Chef Andrew

INGREDIENTS:

3 Strips of bacon
1 Chicken breast
1 Bunch of kale
1 Bunch mustard greens (or any other hardy green)
1 loaf of rustic bread (I used a roasted garlic loaf from Cobs bakery)
Goats cheese
1/2 C Red Seedless Grapes

Vinaigrette
1/4 C  balsamic vinegar
2/4 C olive oil
1 Tsp grainy mustard or Dijon

RECIPE:

Start by turning your oven on to 375 degrees and heat a frying pan on medium-high heat. Add your bacon to the pan, once some of the fat has rendered out from the bacon start searing your chicken breast in the pan.

Once your chicken has some colour on both sides, move your pan into the oven.

While the oven continues to cook your chicken; begin tearing pieces of bread onto a sheet pan, once you have a couple cups of large bread pieces drizzle them with olive oil and place into the top rack of your oven.

Tear your green into bite size pieces and cut the grapes in half.  mix the olive oil, vinegar and mustard into a jar or a bottle and shake until its emulsified into a dressing. Note* I usually make more than i need for any one salad and save the rest for another day in the fridge.

Once your chicken and bacon are ready and the bread is nicely toasted its time to toss everything together everything together.

toss the bread and greens together and add them to the plate. Then slice your chicken/bacon and top the salad with your grapes and goats cheese.

Drizzle with the dressing and you're good to go.  This is versatile salad that is relative fast to throw together as long as you have the ingredients available and can work as an entrée or a starter.