Poached Chicken & Kimchi Salad

As the weather warms up, I start craving food that's fast and fresh yet deeply satisfying. This Poached Chicken & Kimchi Salad checks all the boxes. With moist, tender slices of poached chicken tossed with spicy, fermented kimchi and nutty sesame oil, it's quick and light, yet packed with enough protein and flavor to satisfy any appetite.

Chicken breast often gets a bad rap, and I'll admit—I used to be one of the naysayers. It's lean and delicate, which means it's less forgiving than thigh meat. But I've found a few tricks to get the most out of it in this recipe:

1. Start with a good-quality, pasture-raised bird so the meat has real flavor.
2. Divide the breast into three pieces along its natural separations. This lets you slice each section against the grain so it ends up tender, not stringy.
3. Marinate it with a generous amount of seasoning and starch. The seasonings infuse the meat with flavor, while the starch forms a barrier that locks in the juices and keeps the poaching water out.

Once poached, I give the chicken a quick ice bath to stop the cooking. From there, it's just a matter of tossing it with ripe kimchi and a few pantry staples like soy sauce and sesame oil. One note: kimchi's saltiness varies a lot, so be sure to taste the finished salad and adjust the soy sauce to hit the right level of seasoning for you. The result is bold and refreshing, with heat, tang, and umami in every bite.

I like serving this over crisp cabbage leaves to turn it into a light meal that still fills you up. It's cooling, crunchy, spicy, and satisfying—exactly what I want when the temperatures start to climb.