Gift-wrap tangy chicken for guests

A cucumber-cabbage salad, a perfect accompaniment to these chicken breasts in flaky pastry. David Tanis wraps the weeknight staple in puff pastry for something that’s not just simple and juicy — it’s simply showstopping. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.(David Malosh/The New York Times)

By David Tanis

The craving for vibrant produce is intense this time of year, as the wait for asparagus, peas and tender greens drags on. So here’s a menu for anyone looking for those bright, fresh notes.

It begins with a colorful salad that takes cues from Vietnam. Made with reliable hothouse cucumbers, smaller and sweeter carrots, cabbage and herbs, it can even be slightly garish in appearance if you use purple cabbage. Ordinary cabbage is just fine, but if you can find napa — lately I’ve been buying a beautiful magenta-hued variety — so much the better. The dressing, a zippy mixture of garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime juice and chopped jalapeño, makes it all shine.

It’s not the kind of salad that’s best eaten separately. Instead, it’s an ideal spicy accompaniment to roast chicken, grilled meat or fish, or baked sweet potatoes. For this meal, it pairs beautifully with chicken breasts baked in pastry, which sound impossibly fussy but are, in fact, quite simple to prepare. I recommend using store-bought puff pastry, but, if you want to make your own, any flaky pastry or pie dough works well.

The only tedious part is making sure the chicken breasts are the same size and thickness. Small boneless chicken breasts need only a little trimming, but, if all you can find are large ones, cut them into four 6-ounce pieces, an easy butchering project. (Save any scraps for a stir-fry or freeze them to add to a future stock.)

Season the breasts generously — I used five-spice powder — and coat with a mixture of crème fraîche and mustard. Then, wrap them in pastry, paint with egg wash and bake the packages until golden. This method, in addition to looking lovely, guarantees a perfectly juicy chicken breasts, often not easy to achieve. They’re a gorgeous sight alongside the spicy salad.

I don’t always feel like making dessert and am often happy to pass a bowl of fruit, say, tangerines or mandarins. I might also pass a plate of store-bought candied ginger, an easy flourish.

But for this dinner, a refreshing frozen dessert seemed right, so I whipped up a little sherbet with tangerine juice and yogurt. It can be quickly made in an ice cream maker if you have one. Otherwise, put the mixture in a bowl and pop it into the freezer, stirring every 30 minutes or so — a longer process to be sure, but effective. Serve the sherbet in hollowed-out tangerine “cups” or scooped into glasses. No one will complain if that candied ginger makes its way to the table, too.

Cucumber-cabbage salad with sesame

Taking cues from Vietnamese flavors, this colorful salad can be served on its own or be a fine accompaniment to roast chicken, grilled meat or fish. The dressing, a zippy mixture of garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, lime juice and jalapeño, makes sure the vegetables shine. Ordinary cabbage will work fine, but if you can find napa cabbage, so much the better.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

1/4 cup lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeño or serrano chile

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon grated garlic

For the salad:

2 cups thinly sliced hothouse cucumber (lightly peeled)

2 cups chopped cabbage or napa cabbage

2 carrots, peeled and cut in julienne (1 cup)

Salt

1/2 cup tender cilantro sprigs

2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint

2 tablespoons roughly chopped dill

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Preparation:

1. Make the dressing: In a salad bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Taste and adjust seasoning.

2. To the bowl, add cucumber, cabbage and carrot. Sprinkle lightly with salt, and toss everything together. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Just before serving, add cilantro, mint, dill and sesame seeds, and toss lightly.

Spiced chicken breasts in pastry

These chicken breasts baked in pastry may sound impossibly fussy, but they’re quite simple to prepare. The only tedious part is making sure the chicken breasts are the same size and thickness. Small boneless chicken breasts work well, and will need only a little trimming, but if all you can find are large ones, you’ll need to cut them into four 6-ounce pieces, an easy butchering project. (Save leftover scraps for a stir-fry or freeze them to add to a future chicken stock.)

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

1 to 2 sheets of puff pastry (preferably Dufour), thawed

4 small (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

Salt and black pepper

1/4 cup crème fraîche

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Pinch of ground cayenne

1 cup thinly sliced scallions, white and pale green parts, plus 3 tablespoons slivered scallion tops, for garnish (about 2 large bunches)

1 egg, beaten, for glazing

Thinly sliced red Fresno chile, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Roll out pastry as necessary and cut into four (7-by-7-inch) squares. Allow to soften slightly.

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the chicken breasts or pound them with a mallet, so they’re about 1/2-inch thick. (You’ll have scraps left over, save them for another use.) Season chicken breasts with five-spice, salt and pepper on both sides. Lay them on a large plate.

3. In a small bowl, stir together crème fraîche, Dijon mustard and cayenne. With a spoon, smear mixture evenly on both sides of breasts.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Lay a breast diagonally on each pastry square and sprinkle each with 1/4 cup scallions. Wrap pastry around chicken, then lay on the baking sheet, seam side down. Paint dough generously with egg wash, then make 2 diagonal slits on top.

5. Bake until pastry is nicely browned and chicken is firm, 30 minutes. Serve pastries garnished with scallions and thinly sliced Fresno chiles, if desired.

Tangerine yogurt sherbet

This easy, refreshing dessert can be made in an ice cream machine or in the freezer with a bowl and spoon. Once it’s set, serve it in tangerine “cups” made from halved, scooped-out tangerines or scoop it into glasses. A few pieces of candied ginger served alongside make a nice addition.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings (about 2 1/2 cups)

Total time: 15 minutes, plus freezing

Ingredients:

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

2 teaspoons grated tangerine zest

1 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice, with as much pulp as possible (from 8 small tangerines)

1/2 packed cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons orange liqueur

1 tablespoon rum or brandy

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. In a medium stainless-steel bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved, then add to an ice cream machine to freeze until scoopable. (Alternatively, place the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir every 30 minutes for 3 hours, then freeze overnight.)

2. Transfer to a container with a lid and store in the freezer until ready to serve. Keep up to one week.