I'm always trying to eat healthy and cheap. One of my go-to ingredients
is chicken because it's low in fat and always available on sale at the
grocery store. It has tons more flavor on the bone or the whole chicken
is perfect when you roast it in the oven with lemon and pepper. But all
that takes time and on a random Tuesday when I'm tired from work and
hungry, I usually dig out boneless skinless chicken breasts, the
otherwise bland and boring bird. But I do chop it up and make delicious
pastas with homemade pesto, or occasionally make a fresh stir fry with
whatever veggies I have in the fridge, shake a little soy sauce at it
and gobble away. But sometimes those options are so played out I crave
something more original. I turned back to a classic that is so passe it
is often overlooked and rarely makes it to my table. Chicken salad. Now
I had a good debate with some chef buddies about what to toss in it. Go
for an Asian slant and add almonds, green onions, sesame seeds and a
rice vinegar dressing? What about a fun island version with cubed mango
and papaya and a lime cilantro dressing. There's the old school gobs of
mayo and little less. Some cooks like to add fruit for a sweet addition
to chicken salad with a little texture, I've seen halved grapes, chunks
of apples, raisins, and other pantry staples. Others prefer a more
savory take on chicken salad with crunchy celery, onions, zangy
artichoke hearts or pinenuts. A friend of mine likes to pack it for
picnics so she leaves mayo out. She was concerned about the mayo getting
warm and causing illness with raw eggs, so she used a balsamic
vinaigrette instead, cut rotisserie chicken off the bone and added grape
tomatoes. I worked for a chef who made a delicious chicken salad that I
savored with a slice of crisp baguette after a long day in the
professional kitchen. He used roasted chicken breast he pulled from the
bone and stirred in Dijon mustard, capers, and real mayonnaise (I think
that's why it was sooo good. I would use low fat and he unabashedly
scooped in loads of full-fat, greasy, good mayo) along with chopped
fresh tarragon, parsley, and chives. He served it along side olives and
usually a tossed salad.
For dinner last night I skimmed over dozens of varying recipes for
chicken salad, some classic, some desperately trying to be creative that
it barely resembled the original calling for hard-to-find ingredients
and exotic twists.
I settled on a made-up version that had mayo, mango chutney, curry
powder, apples and white raisins with a dash of limejuice as well as
parsley and green onions for zest. It was a little spicy, coupled with
the sweet fruit, and the savory herbs it really worked. It wasn't your
original version that I once fell in love with, served at a little café
in the Midwest with a fluffy roll, a tomato slice and garnished with a
leaf lettuce. But it was a little more creative and exciting on the
palate, and it's all gone now.
There are endless varieties of chicken salad, but regardless of which
one you choose, it's a great summertime meal that doesn't require much
work and is perfect when you don't feel like going grocery shopping and
you have a few ingredients on hand. Whip up a batch and let me know what
you use in yours.
