Arepas with chicken salad (arepas reina pepiada)

This is the queen of the arepas, the Reina pepiada, which is our version of a chicken salad sandwich,

Credit: The Latin Kitchen

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
• 1.2 L chicken stock
• 1 large ripe avocado (or 2 small), pitted and chopped
• 3 tsp (15 ml) lime juice
• 1½ tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 1½ tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ cup small sweet peppers (capsicum), seeded and chopped
• 1½ tbsp finely chopped red onion
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 6 arepas (see Note, or use Juan Pablo's recipe)

Instructions

1. Place chicken and chicken stock in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook for 17-20 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink.

2. Remove chicken from the stock and discard the stock. Using two forks, shred chicken into small strands. Cover chicken and refrigerate until cool.

3. Once cool, remove from fridge and mash together with avocado, lime juice, coriander, parsley, sweet pepper, red onion and green onion. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Warm arepas and cut in half horizontally. Spoon chicken salad into the arepas, and serve immediately.

Note

• Arepas are a round cornbread. You can buy them frozen from some specialist retailers, or make them using  Juan Pablo's recipe. They are usually gluten-free. (Use gluten-free stock and gluten-free arepas to make this recipe gluten-free.)

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.