Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad

Show: Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger Episode: Cool Summer

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (26)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(26)

Cook Time:
1 hr 5 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
4 servings

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 5 min
Total:: 1 hr 15 min

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Ingredients

1 lemon, preferably unwaxed
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste, divided
Pinch saffron
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 1/4 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, pounded to 1/2-inch thick
1 pound green beans, washed and trimmed
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon honey
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Prick the lemon in 3 or 4 places with a fork and place in a small pot with 1 teaspoon of salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 50 minutes or until the lemon is very tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, mix the saffron, mint, garlic, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl. Pour the marinade into a sealable plastic bag, add the chicken and let it marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.

Steam the green beans for 4 minutes and set aside to cool. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Preheat a large skillet or grill pan which has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Set aside to cool. Cut into bite-sized chunks.

Slice the ends off of the lemon and slice it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp. Slice the peel thinly and then again into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, lemon, green beans and thyme. In a small bowl combine the rest of the lemon juice and the honey, whisk in the remainder of the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad
Josie Glendale, CA 09-20-2009
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I'm ready to make s'more!
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Really tasty, especially with course salt and freshly ground pepper. Also, I made a lil' extra dressing (super easy to make,... btw) for the dish. Point of clarification: I didn't understand the boiled lemon part and learned by trial that the lemon skin should be cut into small bits (1/2 centimeter x 1/2 centimeter) to best distribute the flavor. P.S. Here's a timesaving tip: Trader Joe's sells prewashed green beans in 1lb. packages :D.Read more
recipe Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad
k San Diego, CA 07-29-2009
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yummy flavors
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

i loved this dish. it was so fresh and different than the normal weeknight dinners. rather than just chicken, i made rice to... act as a bed for the chicken. i added some of the preserved lemon and thyme to the rice as it was cooking and it was wonderfully aromatic. the chicken was the highlight. i LOVED it. some have commented that the lemon was a bit too tart, but i found it to be just right. i guess it depends on your personal palette. try it!Read more
recipe Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad
Lisa Bellevue, WA 07-23-2009
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Preserved Lemons
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

We loved this salad - it was truly unique and special. When I saw the recipe called for boiling a lemon, and heard Ellie... mention the Moroccan flavors of the dish, I realized that she was trying to duplicate a "preserved lemon" which is common to Moroccan cuisine. Whole Foods sells preserved lemons in jars, and so, rather than boil a lemon for 50 mintues, I just got the preserved lemons -- and the recipe tasted great. Preserved lemons in the jar are not bitter - just wonderfully tangy and interesting. I highly recommend the recipe and looking for preserved lemons in the grocery store.Read more
recipe Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad
Erin Richmond, VA 07-19-2009
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Missing something....
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

This dish was okay. The boiled lemon was a bit weird, we just ate around it. The green beans and chicken were great. ... Eating it with rice also was great. It seemed like it was missing something. I would make it again but would modify it. Read more
recipe Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad
Priscilla Rockledge, FL 07-17-2009
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Different...and potentially really good
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I really recommend that anyone wanting to make this dish read through the reviews first. I think this is really delicious but... I found the boiled lemon to be very bitter. I tried to pick it out as I was eating it, so without it i think it's a great dish. With it...it's definitely more of an acquired taste. Next time, I might boil the lemon with sugar for a hint of sweetness and really work to scrape absolutely everything out of the lemon when it's finished. Anyway, if you DO use the boiled lemon - taste it ALONE first, that way you'll know if that is a flavor you want in every bite. Read more
recipe Saffron Chicken, Boiled Lemon and Green Bean Salad
Karen Wrightwood, CA 07-15-2009
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Yum - but changed the way ingredients were mixed a little
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I followed this recipe pretty much verbatim, but made two changes: 1. Used frozen green beans as I couldn't find decent... fresh ones in Produce at the store 2. Instead of mixing the fresh thyme & lemon juice in with the chicken and beans at the end, I heated the olive oil (force of habit from a number of Everyday Italian recipes) and added the thyme to infuse the oil. Then I stirred in the lemon juice and honey. This made a really good dressing which could be used for other things as well. Oh, one more thing: I didn't pound the chicken flat, I just sliced it into 1/2 inch strips before marinading, and then cooked it on a grill pan. When I put the dressing on the salad and stirred it in, it went so well with the chicken. Oh, wow! A keeper!Read more