This is a really simple recipe for chicken salad that everyone seems to love, especially my wife and her friends. The first time I made it for friends was before going on a canoe trip. I packed it in some Tupperware, put some pita halves in a Ziploc bag and brought it along. After a few hours of rowing and drifting I simply filled the pita with some chicken salad and passed one to my wife. A couple of her friends wanted to try a bite and the next thing you know it was passed around and never made it back! No worries, I had plenty more and before long it was all gone, they gobbled it up and I knew I had a winner!
The first thing needed for the chicken salad is the chicken. I prefer to use bone in, skin on whole chicken breasts. I think it is just a little moister and more flavorful than the boneless skinless but as you can see from the pictures above, the boneless skinless are very often on sale and really are a little less work when it comes time to do the chopping. If you really want to take a great shortcut, buy a pre-roasted whole chicken at your local store, all you have to do is shred it off the bone(plus for those dark meat fans like me you will get some of that too!) you can skip the cooking step all together. Place the chicken breasts on a rimmed sheet pan (I like to put aluminum wrap on bottom for easy clean up), season generously with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
Place in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 25-35 minutes (depending on if they are still on the bone it would take longer) or until cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking you can prepare your ingredients you are gonna put in the salad. This truly is a matter of personal taste. In my house after experimenting with many different combinations, we have settled on simply adding chopped celery, green onion, and sweat pickles. You can also add grapes, apple, capers, bell pepper, nuts, whatever you like. Chop and assemble the components of the salad so you are ready to mix it.
Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove from the oven and allow them to cool just till they are ready to handle. I really think it is important to make the salad while the chicken is still warm, just like when I make potato salad, it seams to soak up all the flavors that are added.
Chop the chicken or shred with your hands into bite size pieces. I like to keep the chicken pieces rather large about a half inch or so, it will break down a little after you mix it so I want it to have a little texture and bite!
Put the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl and add equal parts mayonnaise (I prefer Hellman's, some people like Miracle Whip) and sour cream and a squirt of Dijon mustard. Start with a smaller amount of the mayo and sour cream you can always add more if it is too dry.
Add whatever chopped ingredients you have prepared and mix it all together. If it is too dry or you like it a little wetter and some more mayo and sour cream.
If you want to brighten it up a little you can add some chopped fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro and/or a little squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Mix it all together well so all the ingredients meld and taste for salt and pepper, you will probably need a little more of both. Put in in the fridge and allow it to cool before serving. When you are ready to serve, mix it and taste again. You can put it on your favorite sandwich bread, place it in some lettuce leaves and eat like a lettuce wrap, put it in a sandwich wrap, or eat it in a bowl by itself. We like to put it in a pita with lettuce and tomato!! Enjoy!!
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