Apple & Almond Chicken Salad
Few things are better than a really delicious chicken salad on some really delicious bread. This chicken salad is really delicious.
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
- Combine the chicken, apple, celery, green onion, parsley and tarragon in a large bowl. Mix until well combined.
- Add in the mayonnaise, salt and pepper and stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Add the almonds right before you plan to serve the salad so the almonds stay crunchy.
- Serve on bread, rolls, croissants, crackers or salad greens.
Benny Z.
September 7, 2010 @ 9:06 pm
This one’s a winner.
erin
September 18, 2010 @ 2:27 pm
love chicken salad, must try this! i also love that blue bowl! it’s old right? reminds me of stuff my mom had growing up!
CarrieZ
September 22, 2010 @ 5:31 pm
You should try the chicken salad! It’s pretty great. Yes, the bowl is an old pyrex pattern…probably one of the favorite things in my kitchen.
akholcomb
September 21, 2014 @ 6:13 am
Too bad you didn’t make her mayonnaise. I tried it 3 years ago and haven’t bought commercial again. QUICK, cost effective, pure/healthier and extremely versatile as far as adding herbs, using a variety of vinegars instead of lemon juice or lime juice . . .
GREAT base for homemade Ranch dressing. Mmmmm!
Carrie Zinnecker
September 24, 2014 @ 6:55 am
Ok, I’ll give it a try! Thanks for the encouragement 🙂