Bbq Chicken Orzo Salad

As a nod to all my American friends - *wave*- I decided to do a post in honor** of all the 4th of July celebrations happening on your side today. What I wouldn't give for some sun-time and freshly grilled lamb chops right around now... Although, I'm kinda glad I don't have to be braving summer clothes and especially swimsuits at the moment. Silver lining, people, silver lining.

But I digress. I have found the perfect use for leftover bbq chicken. Or, even oven grilled chicken if you happen to be in the colder parts of the world. Okay fine, I didn't even grill my own chicken. It was the leftovers from our supper at a Portugese restaurant on Friday to celebrate my new dayjob (can I get a big woooooooooot?). So, now you know all my dirty secrets. 

This salad though - it's gooooood. TheHusband didn't say anything yesterday, but I could feel him giving me the evil side eye while I was preparing said salad yesterday afternoon. I'm sure he thought I'd gone off my rocker for good. I mean, there he was, sitting on the couch under a duvet (snuggling kitty in place of course), and there I was, plucking fresh salad leaves from the herb garden and chopping crunchy apples. 

TheHusband had nothing to fear. He proclaimed the salad to be delicious and even went for a second helping. Of course, it helps that you can serve this salad warm. It also helps that he is a firm lover of all things poultry and was pretty hungry at the time as well. It's all about planning you see...

** See, I'm even using US spelling! ;-)

Bbq Chicken Orzo Salad
A Creative Pot original
Serves 3 - 4 as light lunch 

olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
3 large zucchini (babymarrow), cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
250g orzo, cooked until al dente
4 leftover pieces of grilled chicken (I used peri-peri chicken, but any flavour would do)
1 small firm apple, chopped (I like to use Pink Lady, but Granny Smith would work too)
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
fresh rocket (aragula) leaves to serve

1. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a medium sized frying pan over medium-high heat and saute the onions until starting to soften. Add zucchini and cook a further few minutes until the onion looks glazed and the zucchini is tender.
2. Meanwhile, remove chicken from the bones, roughly chopping the meat into bite sized pieces.
3. In a big salad bowl, combine onion, zucchini, pasta, chicken pieces and apple.
4. Make a dressing by mixing the olive oil with lemon juice, then pour over the salad. Mix and adjust seasoning to taste.
5. Serve on a bed of fresh rocket (aragula) leaves. 

Some other great add-ins for this salad would be a handful of chopped herbs (think mint, parsley, coriander, chives or even dill), diced avocado, chopped tomatoes or even chunks of pawpaw or slivers of pecorino. Also feel free to add a dollop of mustard to the dressing or even some finely chopped chilli.