Chicken Salad.
I love chicken salad. Usually I make it with chopped walnuts and dried cranberries, salt, pepper, and a little dash of cayenne. But this is getting a little old...and I want something new. What do you add to your chicken salad? Do you fry up your chicken first? (I boil mine.) Tell me your secrets! :-)
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18 Comments:
Baked chicken breasts, greek yogurt (instead of mayo), curry powder, apples, green onions and any nut I have on hand. Sounds weird, but it's really addicting!
bitchincamero at 6:54PM on 03/26/08
I like to boil breasts - I add some white wine and a bouquet garni to add some flavor.
When cool enough to handle, I rough chop it and add celery, scallions, sliced red seedless grapes, and some toasted pecans.
For special occasions I like it on mini croissants.
moibec at 7:10PM on 03/26/08
I love chicken salad! I actually grill my chicken on an indoor grill and then dice it into chunks. I like when things like chicken salads have texture. I then add mayo, a touch of dijon mustard, salt, pepper, dill, half a diced red onion and two or three ribs of celery. It's all about the crunch.
PumpkinBear at 7:34PM on 03/26/08
I also poach my chicken breasts with a little white wine, onion, garlic, and a few peppercorns. Instead of chopping the meat, I shred it with my fingers into large bite-size chunks (that's not oxymoronic, is it?), then mix it with a basic dressing of mayonnaise and dijon or whole-grain mustard, and finally toss it all with finely chopped onion, cornichons, and celery.
Chick-fil-A makes their chicken salad with de-breaded fried chicken, and it is amazing. Get it with cheese and it's (weird but kind of) magical. Disclaimer: I worked there for about 8 months a few years ago.
Narinda at 8:26PM on 03/26/08
My chix salad recipe as printed in Gourmet in 1998. Lately I've also been enjoying the crap out of chix salad with pecans and craisins.
chiff0nade at 8:30PM on 03/26/08
Sometimes I poach, but sometimes I roast the chicken, it ends up being juicier. I like to add horseradish with the mayo, salt and pepper, and whatever nice crunchy green thing I have - usually green onions and/or celery. If I don't use horseradish I use dijon mustard.
wellred at 10:41PM on 03/26/08
I love chicken salad that's made with red grapes and curry powder.
Carosone at 10:59PM on 03/26/08
I make grilled margarita chicken breasts, always grilling more than will be eaten for dinner, and use that for the tangy chicken salad that's created from it.
Southern_bella at 11:15PM on 03/26/08
I'll make chicken salad out of any leftover chicken. I don't remember the last time I cooked chicken just to make chicken salad. My husband is from the south and believes chicken salad is only made with a little minced onion, minced celery, salt, pepper, and mayo (preferably homemade or Dukes or Sauer's, both southern brands). One of my favorite ways to use this type of chicken salad is in a sandwich called "Custer's Last Stand" from a sandwich shop called Spanky's. Split a croissant, lightly toast it, spread one side with chicken salad, place a slice of muenster on the other half with two slices of cooked bacon, place on broiler rack not too close to the element, broil until is cheese melted and chicken salad is warm through. Add a couple of slices of ripe tomato, put the two halves together. mmmmm. I'd have it with a cup of black coffee and call it my Old Man Lunch.
wookie at 11:51PM on 03/26/08
Wookie: Lordy, that sandwich sounds amazing.
Narinda at 1:53AM on 03/27/08
I use roasted chicken (whole) usually fixed diavalo style. Yogurt, white wine vinegar and whatever looks good that I have on hand. SO calls it kitchen sink salad, but it always comes out yummy. I dont particularly care for nuts or fruit in the salad so I usually stick with lots of different veggies, although I do like dried cranberries, or grapes on the side.
huney_bumper at 7:34AM on 03/27/08
I only roast chicken breasts. I find that boiled chicken just doesn't taste as good. I also think that there are as many ways to make chicken salad as there are to make tuna salad. Since I prefer a more savory version I leave out the grapes, nuts, berries and twigs! REAL mayo, none of this low-fat nonsense and diced celery. Lots of pepper and salt to taste. Maybe some stone-ground mustard. But I think this is just like a lot of other things. You have to experiment until you find what you like best.
RichardCrystal at 10:59AM on 03/27/08
Funny, I just made some chicken salad last night:-). I also roast a whole chicken. I have three "main" chicken salad varieties, and I prefer small dice for all three (come to think of it, other than Greek salad, I rarely enjoy a salad with large chunks of stuff).
The first one has hard boiled eggs (I know, it sounds funny, but it's good. Hubby calls this one "what came first, chicken or egg" salad), cornichons, celery, red onion, dill and Dijon-mayo dressing (usually, the mayo is home-made). The second one has diced calamata olives and sauteed mushrooms with onions - this one is actually quite good warm, dressed just with olive oil and a touch of sherry added to mushrooms when they are being sauteed. I love it cold too, but may add just a little bit of home-made mayo in this case. The third one has shallots, a green apple or green grapes and walnuts or pine nuts - depending on what I have at the moment:-). All three are also seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Now I'm going to make me a chicken salad sandwich:-)
brooke29 at 11:49AM on 03/27/08
Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad is the big seller at my store
Food Guy in Maine at 11:32AM on 03/28/08
Chicken salad is such a wonderfully flexible thing. Unlike tuna or egg salads, where I can be pretty rigid, chicken salad is pretty much good no matter what the interpretation. I don't have any purist or traditionalist issues with this one!
So, I like to mix it up depending on what's on hand. Poached or roasted chicken both work equally well, just a different flavor profile. My favorite add-ins, besides real mayo, are minced celery, a bit of chopped pecans or cashews, and a bit of dried fruit (usually golden raisins, cherries, cranberries or blueberries, but anything will work). Or add chopped pears or apples instead of dried fruit. But I also go savory with a little minced red onion, dijon, a tiny bit of minced red bell pepper, and a hint of sage or dill.
The nut and fruit version is exceptionally good on a croissant with some brie or a slice of young provolone (or other mild white cheese). A couple of very thin slices of sweet, fully ripened tomato adds a bit of a sweet acid offset to the richness. Oh. My mouth is watering. Truly decadent.
LoCo at 12:22PM on 03/28/08
I use whatever leftover chicken is available: roasted, boiled, grilled, etc. - chunk it up and you're good to go.
Always start with a teeny bit of real mayo and some boiled eggs as the base. Sometimes I add different kinds of mustard or horseradish, depending on the other stuff I mix in. Then I add some kind of spice - curry powder, cayenne, or dill. Pretty much whatever I'm feeling from the spice rack. Next is the crunch - sunflower seeds, crushed peanuts, green onions, grapes, or other crushed nuts. Mix it all up and put it back in the fridge for an hour or so.
Serve it on toasted bread with sliced tomato - I'm a happy camper!
Tara Tot at 12:57PM on 03/28/08
I shred the chicken up with a mayo yogart mix, chopped red grapes, s&p, curry powder or chili powder, garlic powder, parsely, chopped up celery or cucumber, sometimes chopped sunchokes if i feel like digging them up... really anything crunchy...
then top it on whole wheat or pita and some tomatoes..
yum.
chlamers at 4:58PM on 03/28/08
Mine is more on the traditional side. I use the same recipe for turkey and chicken. I can't convince myself to try anything new because I love this recipe so much.
http://nujoikitchendiary.blogspot.com/2007/12/looking-forward-to-turkey-salad.html
NuJoi at 4:39PM on 03/29/08