Leftover Chicken, Chicken Salad
I almost never buy ingredients specifically to make chicken salad. It's more like a freebie-go-to dish that I make whenever I have leftover chicken. Say, after making chicken soup, a roasted chicken, or just some extra rotisserie from the store.
I don't have to think about it or do any extra planning. And since I prefer to buy whole chickens for all of my chicken needs I usually have extra. Plus the other few ingredients that go into this recipe I almost always have on hand anyway.
"Hey Willy, why do you buy whole chickens?" you ask.
Let me count the ways:
• It's significantly less expensive than portioned pieces.
• Whole chickens have a longer shelf life.
• You get chicken bones with which you can (and should) make stock.
• I used to be really fast at breaking down whole chickens and now I'm pretty slow so I like the practice. That one might just be me, but a good life skill nonetheless.
If you're not already sold, here are a few other reasons you should make your own chicken salad. It's delicious, it requires only one bowl and a spoon to make, there's no cooking required, and you can make it hours or days ahead of time so it's RTG (ready to go) whenever you are!
Put it on crackers, a sandwich, a spoon, or even mixed with some salad greens (not that you should feel obligated, since this is after all a "salad" to begin with).
If you've never followed a recipe using weights instead of volume, this here is a perfect time to dip your toes in the pool.
You keep your one bowl on a digital scale the whole time, add one ingredient, press the "tare" button, add the next ingredient, "tare" and so on and so forth. It's how 90% of restaurants operate because it's fast an and it's accurate.
No more trying to scrape every last bit of mayonnaise out of your half-cup measure. No more losing sleep at night wondering if your 3T of parsley are packed in the tablespoon the same as mine were (10g parsley is 10g parsley, I don't care who you are). Oh, and g = grams.
Recipe Notes
*I like to look at a recipe as a guideline. And since this one is quite simple, I encourage you to stray from the path if you feel so inclined. Have some cilantro, scallion, dill, chervil, tarragon, etc. burning a hole in your pocket? Throw it in there. Are you one of those people who likes grapes in your chicken salad? Don't be shy.
*The recipe below calls for 1 pound of chicken, but because you may be using leftover chicken from another dish, the probability of having that exact amount is low. If you have a half pound, halve the recipe. If you're in the ballpark (3/4 - 1 1/4#), use the recipe as is and simply adjust your salt, it will still be good, I promise.
Chicken Salad
454g/1# Chicken, shredded
10g/3T Parsley, chopped
3g/1ea Garlic, minced
50g/1ea Celery, sliced
50g/.25ea Onion, small dice
10g/1T Yellow Mustard
100g/.5c Mayo
3g/1t Salt
g/1t Black Pepper
10dash Tobasco
1ea Lemon, juice
- Combine all and mix well.
- Taste and adjust seasoning.