A tasty recipe for grilled chicken and peach salad with watercress

This main-dish salad is summer eating at its very best. The fruity dressing balances the peppery bite of watercress — a cancer-fighting cruciferous vegetable rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C — and infuses the chicken with flavour. With flavourful ginger that helps fight inflammation, this healthy meal is an ideal part of any diet.

• Preparation time: 25 minutes.
• Marinate time: 30 minutes to 1 day.
• Cook time: 10 to 12 minutes.
• Serves 4.

Ingredients:

Marinade and dressing

• 75 ml (1/3 c) unsweetened peach or apricot nectar (see Cook's tip) or juice
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) canola oil
• 20 ml (4 tsp) rice vinegar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 slices (0.5 cm/1/4 in thick) fresh ginger, peeled and crushed
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) crushed red pepper

Chicken and salad

• 500 g (1 lb) boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
• 10 ml (2 tsp) canola oil
• 2 peaches, peeled, pitted and halved
• 1 small red onion, cut into 1-cm-thick (1/2-in-thick) slices
• 1.5 L (6 c) trimmed watercress sprigs, washed and dried

Instructions:

1. To make the marinade and dressing: In a blender, combine the peach nectar, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and pepper. Cover and blend until smooth.
2. To make the chicken and salad: Place the chicken in a ziplock bag. Add 50 millilitres (1/4 cup) of the juice mixture, seal the bag and turn the chicken to coat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to one day. (Reserve the remaining marinade, covered, in the refrigerator, for dressing the salad.)
3. Set a fine-mesh vegetable grill topper on the grill. Preheat the grill to medium. Lightly oil the topper and grate by rubbing with a piece of oil-soaked paper towel. Brush the peaches and onion with the oil and place on the grill topper. Place the chicken on the grill grate. Cover the grill and cook, turning once halfway through cooking, until the chicken is browned and cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted in the centre should register 77°C/170°F) and the onion and peaches are lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Cut the chicken into 0.5-centimetre-thick (1/4-inch-thick)  slices. Cut the peaches into wedges. Separate the onion rings. In a large bowl, combine the watercress, chicken, peaches and onion. Add the reserved dressing and toss to coat well.

• One serving is 400 grams (1 3/4 cups).

Each serving contains:

• 294 calories
• 25 g protein
• 14 g carbohydrates
• 2 g fibre
• 16 g total fat
• 2 g saturated fat
• 63 mg cholesterol
• 167 mg sodium

Look for unsweetened peach nectar in the natural foods section of your supermarket or in a natural foods store.

• Check to make sure that the juice has not been sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup.

Keep this recipe in mind and try making this flavourful salad tonight, as a healthy meal that your whole family will love.