Chicken Salad

Updated, from the recipe archive, my dad's favorite chicken salad. It's great! First posted 2006. ~Elise

My mother and father make the best chicken salad. It's a joint effort; my dad assembles the ingredients, while my mom makes the dressing. It's not exactly your standard chicken salad. They like to include chopped apple, for a sweet note, and also chopped green olives, for their tangy saltiness. They'll use leftover chicken from a roast chicken, or their favorite baked chicken dish, and even include some of the crispy skin. You could also just poach some boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs in salted water for this salad.

Chicken Salad Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes

You can use any leftover cooked chicken meat for this salad, with or without the skin. Or you can poach some boneless skinless chicken breasts in salted water for this salad.

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb (2-3 cups) of cooked chicken meat*, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4-6 green olives, pitted and minced
• 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
• 1/2 to a whole apple, cored and chopped
• 1/3 head of iceberg head lettuce, sliced and chopped

Dressing:

• 5 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp plum preserves, or any sweet berry preserve (or a lesser amount of honey)
• 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

*To poach chicken for this recipe, start with a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large (2 to 3-inch) pieces. Bring a 2 quart pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Add the chicken to the boiling water, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let the chicken pieces sit in the hot water for 15 minutes, then drain the water and chop the chicken pieces into smaller pieces for the salad.

Method

1 Prep all of the salad ingredients and toss them together in a large bowl.

2 Prepare the chicken salad dressing in a separate smaller bowl. Mix together the mayonnaise, preserves, and lemon juice. Taste for the proper balance of sweetness and acidity. The salad dressing should not be too sweet nor too sour. Add more preserves or lemon juice until you have reached the balance you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3 Gently stir the dressing in with the chicken salad ingredients. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Yield: Serves four.