Dinner Tonight: Warm Chicken Salad with Arugula, Capers, and Pine Nuts Recipe

Dinner Tonight

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Nick Kindelsperger
Published: Last Updated:
Dinner Tonight: Warm Chicken Salad with Arugula, Capers, and Pine Nuts Recipe

"I polished off this dish like it was steak."

This may sound like an awfully simple salad, but something about it is so much more. I found the recipe on Orangette after searching around for ways to use arugula and roast chicken leftovers. The recipe looked like a perfect use of both, but I didn't think about it much beyond that. I hoped it would be tasty--I didn't realize it would be approaching revelatory.

I polished off this dish like it was a steak. There's something strange and wonderful about the way bitter arugula wilts underneath warm chicken, and the tart dressing ties it all together. I substituted tomatoes for bell peppers, added some capers, and discarded the croutons. Anything you add will probably work out as long as you keep the chicken and arugula. I honestly couldn't put my fork down.

  • Yield:2

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 roasted chicken, pulled
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained
  • A couple handfuls of arugula
  • 2 tomatoes, sliced thinly
  • Parmesan shavings
  • Salt and pepper

Directions

  1. 1.

    Combine the mustard, red wine vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Set aside.

  2. 2.

    Toss the pine nuts in a small skillet set over medium-high heat. Toast for a minute or so, stirring occasionally. Make sure they don't turn black.

  3. 3.

    Warm the chicken in either small pan or in the microwave. Toss with 1 tablespoon of the dressing.

  4. 4.

    Add the arugula to a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the dressing. Taste some of the arugula and add more dressing if it needs it. Divide the arugula between two bowls. Top with the sliced tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, capers, shaved Parmesan and warmed chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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