Recipe
3 bone in, skin on chicken breasts
1 lemon
1/2 red onion
1 pear
1 avocado
3 celery stalks
1 carrot
1 tablespoon EVOO
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
4 sprigs tarragon
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 cup toasted hazelnut pieces
1 head of butter lettuce
2 hard boiled eggs
salt and pepper to taste
First, the chicken. If you're in a rush, grab a rotisserie chicken from your local grocer and use that instead. The leftover chicken carcass is great for making stock too! Even if you don't have time to make the stock right away, just throw the bones in the freezer and save it for later. Trust me, homemade stock is miles above the canned stuff. If you decide to cook the chicken yourself, make sure to use skin-on, bone-in chicken breast. The skin and bones keep the meat from drying out.
Preheat the oven to 400ยบ. Clean and dry the chicken and season generously with salt and pepper. Make sure to over season because that's the only flavoring the chicken will get before the vinaigrette and we'll discard the skin. If you want to go fancy, sprinkle on some garlic powder or your favorite dried seasoning. Put the chicken breasts skin side up on a lined baking sheet (try not to crowds the pieces) and pop it in the oven for around 35 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pieces. Before taking the chicken out of the oven, always check for doneness with a meat thermometer. If you don't have one, simply stick a knife into the thickest part of the breast, if the juices run clear, you're done.
When the chicken breasts are cooled, remove the skin and the bones, both of which should come off easily. I save that for stock. If you still see some pink or blood near the bones, pop the chicken meat into the microwave for 30 seconds. Better safe than sorry, I say! Roughly cube the meat into half inch cubes, or if you prefer, simply use your fingers to tear the meat along the grain, and set aside.
Peal the pear and quarter along the vertical axis. Cut out the core and roughly chop the fruit into approximately quarter inch dices. Remove the leaves and bottom part of the celery and cut up into pieces similar in size to the pear. Ditto for the carrot and red onion. Feel free to make substitutions -- if pears aren't in season, use apples, grapes or go exotic with mangos. You can also toss in corn, peas or grape tomatoes for added color and get your veggies on. Be creative; you can't go wrong by tossing a little fun with chicken salad add-on's.
Now, onto the vinaigrette. In this instance, I choose to do a tarragon, lemon and mustard mix. Using a micro-plank, zest the lemon and juice it. Whisk in the EVOO, mustard, minced tarragon (around 1 tablespoon), honey and celery seed to the lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. I've used vinaigrettes based on lemon and Italian parsley in the past to great results. Cilantro and dill also work very well in this context. If you want to save on time, simply use your favorite salad dressing. Pour the dressing over the chicken salad mix and distribute evenly.
Gently peal off the leaves of the butter lettuce (bibb works splendidly too) and wash. Line the plate with the leaves and spoon the chicken salad over the lettuce. Top with sliced avocado and hard boiled eggs. Make sure to squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the avocado to prevent oxidation, the chemical process that turns the oily fruit that ugly brown color. Finish off by sprinkling the hazelnut pieces over the dish. In this instance, I'm using tupperware container since I'm packing a lunch.
Reflection
This is one of my go-to meals. It's versatile, super healthy, high in protein and loaded with veggies, and so effortless. You can create a hundred variations based on the foundation recipe. Definitely experiment and create your own cornucopia of colors and textures. Next time you see a coworker pay $10 for a chicken salad laden with mayo, feel free to look smug while munching on your light, homemade creation.
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