I’ve been on the hunt lately for fresh, summery recipes that are easy to bring along to a picnic in the park (or the Diner en Blanc , as this one was). Since moving to Paris, picnicking has quickly become one of our favourite things to do – the Bois de Boulogne (an 8.5 km² park on the west side of Paris) is really close to where we live (along with a ton of other beautiful gardens in Paris), the weather is lovely this time of year, and it’s a fun outdoor activity that the dogs can enjoy as well! Plus, French picnics always involve wine :) This salad was quite easy to whip together, and perfect for bringing along to a picnic. And the dressing is soooooo good!

Recipe inspiration is from this recipe from BBC goodfood , but has been modified.

INGREDIENTS
serves 6 to 8

4 chicken breasts, sliced into smaller pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red curry paste
salt + pepper
250 mL plain yogurt
2 mangos, peeled and cubed
zest + juice of 1 lime
6 romain lettuce hearts
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
pine nuts for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 200 C (~400 F), and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with tinfoil, followed by parchment paper. In a large bowl, add the chicken, olive oil, salt + pepper, and 1 tablespoon of the curry paste. Stir to coat the chicken, and spread onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for ~20 minutes, until cooked through.

For the dressing, in a blender, combine the remaining curry paste, salt + pepper to taste, yogurt, 1/4 of the cubed mango, and the zest and juice of the lime. Puree until completely smooth. Since I was travelling with this salad, I poured all of the dressing into a squeezy bottle , and placed plastic wrap over the top of the bottle before screwing on the top, so that it wouldn’t leak during travel. A mason jar would work well too, but doesn’t make it as easy to add dressing to your salad in the middle of a park :)

Cut up the lettuce, and combine it with the onion in a bowl that you don’t mind traveling with. (Mine went into a large glass bowl, since we were headed to a fancy picnic, but normally I just would have used a plastic one). I placed the remaining mango in a tupperware container, and the cooked and cooled chicken in a separate container, and added it once we arrived so that the lettuce wouldn’t get soggy.

Then just pack the tupperware containers, dressing, pine nuts, and salad tongs into the bowl with the lettuce, cover with plastic wrap, and assemble on site!

PS: click here for the printable version of this recipe.