White Veggie Soup and Curry Chicken w/ Salad

I thought this meal was good. The soup was fairly neutral but I thought the chicken broth took over the flavor a bit too much, but it's plain and satisfying enough to me. The chicken was good (I love curry, so of course I would think that). I wasn't a huge fan of the vinaigrette, though. My dad said it had too much thyme in it and it didn't really blend well with the chicken. I also prefer my salads to be fairly drenched with dressing, and there wasn't enough liquid in the vinaigrette to do that. I'm going to have to do some more work to figure out how to make it better and work with the curry.


FYI, I have not altered the recipe to fix the vinaigrette, yet.

These recipes are adapted from I'll Have What She's Having and Serious Eats.

Roasted White Vegetable Soup

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 rutabaga, peeled and diced
• 1 turnip, peeled and diced
• 1 celery root, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 L low sodium vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 400.

Place the vegetables, onion and garlic on a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast vegetables for 40 minutes.

Transfer roasted vegetables to a large soup pot. Cover with stock. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender puree soup, or allow to cool and pour into a regular blender to puree (may have to be done in batches).

Chicken with Tomato-Saffron Vinaigrette

• 2 Tbsp white rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 1/8 tsp crumbled saffron
• 1 1/2 tsp hot paprika
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes (or equivalent chopped tomato pieces)
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs chicken thighs, sliced
• Lettuce of your choice

(I did these steps while the veggies were simmering.)

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, lemon juice, shallots, saffron, and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. Whisk to combine, then slowly whisk in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil to create a dressing. Sprinkle in half the thyme and add the tomatoes, mixing to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, curry powder, and remaining paprika and thyme. Heat a skillet with the remaining olive oil over medium heat and sauté the thighs until cooked through. Remove the chicken and turn off the heat. Add the vinaigrette to the pan to deglaze and warm through. (Oh, I just realized I forgot to heat the vinaigrette up...that could also have had something to do with why it wasn't as good as I'd hoped.)

Place your lettuce on plates and place the chicken on the salads, then spoon the vinaigrette over and serve immediately.