Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Chicken Salad



I've never made chicken salad before this weekend.  I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm not a big fan of tons of mayonaisse.  I don't mind a little on my sandwich but potato salads that have a ton of it or tuna that is swimming in it, I don't know, it grosses me out.  This definitely has mayo in it but it's cut by sour cream and it's so much better than all mayo.  Trust me.  The chicken is roasted instead of poached and what a difference it makes.  Throw in some extra breasts and save the chicken for other recipes.  I did and it's come in handy already. The recipe is by Ina Garten's and I made a couple of small changes.  I'll post what I did here and you can click on the link for the original recipe.


Chicken Salad

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-salad-contessa-recipe/index.html

Ingredients:


2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (1 1/2 pounds)
olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pecan halves (or walnuts)
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup scallions or chives
1 cup green or red grapes, cut in half
Lettuce leaves, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool.

When the chicken is cool, remove meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Shred the chicken with two fork or with your fingers.
Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a pan and set aside to cool.

For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard.  Add salt and pepper to taste . Fold in parsley and chives.

Place the shredded chicken in a bowl, add the pecans, walnuts and grapes. Pour the dressing over the chicken and toss well.  Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.



16 comments:

Big Dude said...

Looks delicious - one of my favorites. I smoke chicken and turkey expressly for chicken salad.

Anonymous said...

Oh this is a soft spot for me. I love chicken salad. I love pecans in it tooooo. Yours looks perfect!

Bob said...

Pecans in chicken salad? Awesome! I love chicken salad, but I'm with you that too much mayo is too much. I've never had it with sour cream, I'm definitely trying that next.

Pam said...

I love grapes in my chicken salad...it looks and sounds delicious.

Cate said...

The best chicken salad I've ever had is at a restaurant down in Cape May, George's. Love the addition of Dijon in yours to give it that little extra zing.

Patti T. said...

There was a deli around here that made the best chicken salad ever. Naturally it was sold and the new owners totally screwed up the recipe. I could never figure out what made their dressing so different. I am going to give the sour cream a try and see if that is what it was.

Jen_from_NJ said...

I like the idea of roasting the chicken. I love chicken salad, especially on a good bagel! Yum!

Dionne said...

I'd never made chicken salad before until recently either! This recipe sounds great though.

Mom on the Run said...

I am not a mayo fan at all. In fact if it has it in it I won't eat it. My husband says I have a fancy mouth but I say I won't eat something if I don't like it.

Giovanna said...

Never made chicken salad before! Wow! I'm glad you did roasted chicken instead of poached. Poaching it has no flavor what so ever. If you can try a smoked chicken that would be even better than roasted. I like that you added mustard, the ones here are all mayo! Talk about heavy to eat sometimes. Yours looks yummy !

rosasdolcevita said...

This sounds sooo good! I like the addition of the grapes, but I think I would cut back a little more on the mayo (only because the mayo here in Germany isn't really that good). If I had Hellmann's mayo all the time then I would be in heaven!

shandon said...

This sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for posting this recipe -- I'll have to try it over the holiday weekend.

Unknown said...

i just made chicken salad yesterday with some leftover roasted chicken and I was thinking how yummy it would've been with nuts and grapes (but hubby wouldn't for it). It looks great Michele!!

Shane T. Wingerd said...

I could totally go for a Chicken Salad sandwich right now. That looks so mouthwatheringly delicious... YUM!!

Nicole Marie said...

oh yum! i've made it before but definitely didn't look as good as this!

MJ said...

The music on this blog is wonderful. It reminds me of my childhood when I visited an Italian friend. Thanks for the memories. I am going to roast my chicken for the chicken salad from now on.