Anova Sous Vide Dairy Free Tahini Chicken Salad
We recently received an Anova Sous Vide as a delayed wedding present, and while it wasn't on our registry I was thrilled to get it because I'd been wanting one for quite some time. If you don't know much about sous vide or precision cookers, it's a method that many restaurants have used for a long time but it's only recently become more common for regular ol' folks to have at home.
Basically, the idea is that its a way to cook your food to a perfect temperature with more precision than roasting in an oven. The device basically heats water up to the perfect temperature while your meat, veggies, eggs cook inside an air sealed bag. The best part is, it takes about an hour for the cooking to be complete, but you can leave it in there for a few more hours and it will keep your food cooked exactly at that temperature without drying out or getting overcooked.
So the first order of business was to try out some chicken breasts as I’d been told by friends, family, and even a chef that chicken is an awesome use for the sous vide since it’s one of those items that's so easy to under or overcook otherwise.
We got the plastic bag sealer on Amazon that some friends recommended but apparently it's also really easy to just use ziplock bags and little clips, so when I was ready to cook I just put my chicken breasts (bone in & skin on for a little more flavor) along with salt, pepper, and some lemon slices in a bag, used my vacuum sealer to take the air out then dropped it in a big pot of water along with my sous vide. I set the temperature to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (which it got to in a matter of minutes) and then let the chicken go for almost 4 hours. When I was ready to take it out, I simply removed the chicken from the bags, peeled off the skin & bone and chopped it up. It was incredibly moist and tender and cut really easily (PS I did a second batch later int eh week and was able to just shred with my fingers). I popped the chicken in the fridge to add to salads throughout the week, so easy.
For this particular recipe, I decided to try using tahini again (because this recipe was just so yummy). So here’s what I used (for one portion, about 1 chicken breast worth of meat):
- 2 big spoonfuls of tahini
- 4 tablespoons (ish) of warm water
- juice from one lemon
- dash of cayenne pepper
whisk all of the above ingredients together, then toss the chicken in the sauce for a luscious dairy-free chicken salad. I added it over a bed of shredded kale and roasted butternut squash which had already been tossed in a bit more lemon juice & grapeseed oil. Add a pinch of salt to the whole thing and ENJOY!
Also, a cool guide to sous vide cooking!
The day before I simply tossed the chicken (sans tahini sauce) with my greens and butternut squash for a salad on the go!
And later int eh week I used the batch that I shredded with my hands to make tacos using a quick jarred salsa verde, avocado, and siete almond meal tortillas!