SMALL HOUSEHOLDS SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN SALAD: easy,some prep-ahead, healthy, wallet-friendly, dairy-free option

Finding an exciting tasty not-too-difficult recipe for leftover chicken without buying lots more ingredients can be tricky.

But here's one that's got everything you could want...and more

This recipe, inspired by Waitrose Food magazine, is rather glorious: layered with fabulous flavours, attractive, part make-ahead and easily assembled.  It won't make a big dent in your weekly food budget.

67goingon50 has focused on small households - singletons, couples, pensioners - but the ingredients are easily doubled for 4 people.

Ingred:

50ml red wine vinegar

min1/3-max 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp orange zest

1 bay leaf

equivalent shredded meat of at least 2 cooked chicken thighs 
25gms/4/5oz pine nuts (or seeds: sunflower, pumpkin or both)
60gm/2.1oz fresh or reconstituted cranberries or other dried fruit (medjool dates, raisons, apricots)

4-6 sunblush tomatoes, from supermarket or make-your-own (see  below)

10 gm fresh basil, torn OR 1/3 tsp dried basil

45gm/1.5oz rocket, rinsed 2-3 times, drained, dried 

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

zest and juice of 1/2 clementine

membrane-free segments of half a clementine  

2 tbsp dairy or plant Parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

Method:

STILTON NUT TWISTS: Indulgent, dairy-free option

Stilton & nuts are a classic combo; folded in scone dough and twisted, they are a delight...

Stilton & Nut Twists: low sugar, high fibre, fab complex flavours!

For the lactose intolerant, cheese is mainly a no-no but it's very hard to resist the fantastic variety of English cheeses.  So treating oneself to small quantities of cheese every few months is understandable; it staves off cheese cravings and, even better, boosts calcium for good bone health  

If you like the intensity of something blue, classic Stilton is the usual choice but  camberzola, a rich wodge of creaminess with thick blue veins OR award-winning Blackstone Blue, delicate and cheddar-like, are popular, too.  (Vegan stilton and other blue varieties but have not yet been tested by the blogger.)

These Stilton Nut Twists, a variation on an earlier Cinnamon Nut Twist recipe, are a lovely afternoon treat with tea or a crispy dipper for soup.  The robust, complex flavoured cheese is  wrapped along with crunchy nuts in scone dough, like a parcel and prettily twisted.

They are not as complicated as they look.  Or as unhealthy.  And because they're small, the recipe goes a long way.

They are sugar-free, with some flour replaced with oatmeal to slow down blood sugar.  

The recipe is generous with butter but because the twists are small, they aren't as lethal as they could be.  Vegan butter like Tomor will cut cholesterol significantly but add an scant extra tbsp to the recipe to reduce dryness.


Cost:  £3.25' ish (2025), more for dairy-free
Makes: maybe 12 twists; recipe doubles easily

Ingred:
   210 gm/6 oz self raising flour LESS 3 tbsp flour (add 1 tsp baking powder to the flour if it is not self-raising,)
   3 tbsp pinmeal (or blitzed) oatmeal
   1.5 tsp baking powder 
   1/4 tsp salt 
   2.5 oz/70gm cold dairy or vegan butter, in small cubes

   1 egg
   3.5 tablespoons very cold dairy or plant milk

   Filling:
      57gm/2 oz nuts, chopped small but not fine
      75-100 gm/2.5-3.5 oz rindless stilton, crumbled or sliced 
      softened, spreadable dairy or plant butter (opt)

Method:

1. Sift dry ingred into a bowl; rub in butter with fingertips or with paddle beater in a free-standing mixer Aid until they form little globs the size of peas; make a depression in the middle
2. Beat egg and milk in a jug; pour into the flour; bring together, dragging flour from the outside in with a spatula; the dough will begin to clump together but there will be lots of loose bits - don't worry, it will all come together in due course
3. 
   Dump onto a lightly floured board; press lightly until all the bits hold together. Form into a rectangle twice as long as it is wide and pat gently until flattish.   Mentally divide the rectangle into three; fold the left side onto the middle; and the right side onto the middle & left sides.  (see photo, right;  the method introduces layers into the dough, like puff pastry, which makes the twists very light). Repeat twice, pressing down lightly between each folding but handling dough as little as possible. 
4. Preheat oven to 210c/200fan/410F
5. Dust a rolling pin; lightly roll dough into a rectangle 1 cm/1/2in thick, twice as long as it is wide   
6. If you like, lightly spread with softened butter.  Leaving a 1/4 inch border all round, sprinkle generously with nuts, then with slices or chunks of stilton; carefully roll up dough like a jelly roll, pressing gently as you go. 
7. With a sharp serrated knife, cut into 1/2 inch/1 cm slices 
8. Lightly pinch each slice in the middle and twist
9. Arrange on a lined baking tray, leaving a space in between
10. Brush tops with milk or a beaten egg mixed with a little water  (opt)
11. Bake in the centre of the oven 12-15 minutes or until light brown
12. Leftovers can be frozen, defrosted overnight and reheated for a few minutes at 160c/320F

Comments:

'My cheese-starved body adored the twists -- the outer layers were crisp and crunchy, contrasting with the pillowy centres, rich with melted stilton and  nuts.'   Retired writer  

Tips:

• if you liked these, you may also like Choco-Nut Breakfast Twists

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.