French Salad Platter with Chicken, Swiss, Chard, Roasted Carrots and Farro

A French recipe for Swiss Chard….next up in my summer series of French salad platters inspired by Richard Olney’s Salade Canaille.

Do you ever fall asleep dreaming about something beautiful you had eaten for dinner? That’s what happened to me last night after I had this version of Salade Canaille — a beautiful French salad platter.

The other day, I told you about how I’d rediscovered the Salade Canaille, (“Scoundrel Salad”), a master template for making a beautiful French salad platter, inspired by 20th-century French-food cookbook author, Richard Olney.

Since then, I’ve been making all kinds of Salades Canailles. It’s the perfect season to do so: Farmers’ markets are in full swing, and these salads are perfect for using up all kinds of peak-season ingredients you bring home. They’re a stunning way to entertain outdoors: Just assemble the platter, bring it out on the patio and set it in the center of the table in serve-yourself fashion.

Rainbow Chard. Photo by @foodreich

This French salad platter pairs roast chicken with one of my favorite ingredients: Swiss Chard. Known as blettes in France, this leafy green often has stems that can be red, white, or multi-colored (in the latter case, it’s known as “rainbow chard”). Not only is Chard beautiful, but the flavor is stunning — a little like a cross between mellow beets and a deep, dark spinach.

I also roasted some carrots, and added some super-sweet, thin-sliced white raw onion (fresh from the market), pistachios, and fresh thyme. Oh — and to add a little heft and extra texture to the salad, I cooked up a little farro and tossed it with a wee bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Honestly, I couldn’t decide about the blue cheese. Olney eschews cheese on his salades canailles when meat is involved. He doesn’t think it’s needed (and besides, knowing Olney’s ways, I’m sure he would have served a cheese course after this salad).

You might recall my Salade Canaille, with lamb, from the other day. One salad template, thousands of possibilities.

But I decided to put a little on the side, and I thought it complemented the chard’s flavors nicely. Put a little out to add to the salad à volonté (as you wish), and see what you think.

Oh — one more thing. I find it so hard to get boneless chicken breasts with the skin on, but that is the best choice for these salads. It adds juiciness to the meat, and that crispy skin is just so good. Try to find boneless skin-on breasts (or thighs) if you can. But if you can’t, boneless, skinless breasts will do.

I made the salad for two — but you can easily double, triple, etc. it for leftovers.

French Salad Platter with Roasted Chicken and Carrots with Swiss Chard

Serves two. Easily doubled, tripled, etc.

1 small bunch Swiss chard (around 8 ounces — fine if more!)
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling and brushing
1/3 cup farro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3/4 pound boneless chicken breasts (skin-on, if possible)
9 ounces carrots
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 small sweet white onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped pistachio nuts
Fresh thyme springs and leaves, if you have them
Blue cheese, if desired

French Salad Platter with Roasted Chicken and Carrots, Swiss Chard, sweet onion, pistachios, farro, thyme, and — if you wish — a little blue cheese.

• Trim rough chard bottoms; slice stems and coarsely chop the leaves; set aside.

• Cook the faro according to package directions; drain any excess liquid; cool a bit then toss with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.

• Roast the chicken breasts, drizzled in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, in a 425° oven for 15 to 25 minutes depending on size (internal temperature should reach 170°F). Remove and set aside on a cutting board; cool a bit, then slice.

• Toss carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast alongside chicken for 20 minutes or until tender, adding chard stalks (tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper) for the last 5 minutes.

• In a large bowl, combine 3 tablespoons olive oil with the balsamic vinegar; add salt and pepper to taste.

• Just before serving (while cooked ingredients are still in the warm to room-temperature range). Arrange the sliced chicken, roasted carrots and chard stems, and farro on a platter. Toss chard leaves with a little dressing and arrange it on the platter. Sprinkle the platter with pistachios and thyme leaves. Garnish with thyme springs here and there. Serve a little blue cheese on the side, if you like. If there’s any extra dressing, drizzle it here and there on the salad. Whisk to the table to serve.

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