I have been convicted lately to use my cookbooks more.  I am often reminded of my dad saying to me and my sisters when I lived at home, “Why are you looking on the internet for a recipe?  You’ve got a whole bookcase full of cookbooks right here!”.  He only said it once, but he had a good point that has obviously stuck with me.  While I do still find myself browsing recipes on food sites, I am making an effort to use my cookbooks more and it is really paying off.

This chicken salad recipe is from Rebecca Rather’s cookbook and is one of my favorites.  I have made and have blogged about many of them, and have yet to be disappointed.  I often focus on her sweet treats, but decided to delve into another section of the cookbook this weekend.

I do prefer to use homemade items instead of store bought most of the time, but not for this recipe.  Rather instructs you to make your own mayonnaise.  This, I am sure, it spectacular.  She also includes a few ways to spice up your homemade mayo that make it extra special.  She suggests curry powder, saffron, garlic, chives or rosemary.  With the egg fiasco going on, and this whole pregnancy thing I’ve got going on, I figured raw eggs would not be the best choice for me…so I used store bought mayo.  I recently bought a bottle of Kraft Olive Oil mayonnaise that I used here, and I really liked it.

Other than my laziness in the mayo department, I made minor changes to this recipe.  My changes are shown in the recipe below.  The only thing I left out completely was 1/4 cup finely diced red onion.  I didn’t have one, so I just used 5 chopped green onions.  I also added the fresh tarragon.  Central Market sells a lovely tarragon chicken salad, so that was my inspiration.

I served this chicken salad on ciabatta rolls with lettuce and tomato.  I ate some leftover today on a bed of lettuce.  The almonds still had some texture, so two days in the fridge will not turn your almonds into mush.  Enjoy!

Apple & Almond Chicken Salad

Adapted from The Pastry Queen

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
• 2-3 stalks of celery, diced
• 4-5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup slivered blanched almonds, toasted
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine the chicken, apple, celery, green onion, parsley and tarragon in a large bowl.  Mix until well combined.
2. Add in the mayonnaise, salt and pepper and stir until thoroughly mixed.
3. Add the almonds right before you plan to serve the salad so the almonds stay crunchy.
4. Serve on bread, rolls, croissants, crackers or salad greens.

This chicken salad came about like many meals do for me; I had to either use some chicken thighs I had in the fridge in the next few days, or they would need to be thrown away.  So, I made a decision to do something with them…that something was yet to be determined when I put them in a plastic bag to marinate in some Italian dressing that was almost empty.  After an overnight flavor bath, I still had no plan.  Well, I guess baking them would be a good idea.  So, that’s what I did.

While they were cooking, I went rummaging in the pantry and fridge for some inspiration. Celery…onion…mustard…mayonnaise…basil…Parmesan cheese…pine nuts…Carrie’s Chicken Salad was born.  I will say that the idea for the pine nuts was not my own.  A sandwich place in College Station, Blue Baker, put pine nuts in their chicken salad and it was one of my favorite items on the menu.  That and the Mediterranean pizza.  I sure do miss that place.  If you ever go for breakfast, you must get the spinach, egg and feta breakfast sandwich on a croissant.  It is decadent, but will also keep you full enough to not need a big lunch.  Ok, back to the matter at hand…

I wish I’d measured a bit better when I made this chicken salad so that I could have written an usable recipe.  Unfortunately, I didn’t think this would turn out that great so I just threw the ingredients together and didn’t bother trying to measure or remember how much of anything I used.   The recipe below is a guess, at best, as far as measurements go…so, just go with your gut!  The flavors are great together, so taste as you go and adjust as needed.

Carrie’s Chicken Salad

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts
• 1 1/2 cups Italian salad dressing
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3-4 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise (or more if needed)
• 3-4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
• 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing for a few hours, or up to overnight
2. Preheat the oven to 350 and bake the chicken for 20-30 minutes on a rimmed baking sheet
3. Let the chicken cool, then shred or chop into bite size pieces
4. Combine chicken, mayonnaise, mustard, celery, red onion, basil, Parmesan, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Taste and adjust any ingredients as you see fit.
5. Add pine nuts right before serving to keep them nice and crunchy.
6. Serve on toasted bread, over a bed of lettuce, or as a snack with crackers.