Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Chicken salad can be served in a sandwich, in lettuce cups, lettuce wraps, or even spread on crackers. Also good served on or rolled up in Bibb/Boston lettuce leaves. This recipe is also good as a filling for tiny cream puffs to be served as hors d'Ouerves. In this case, cut the chicken up more finely.

Cooking the Chicken:

One key to making a flavorful chicken salad is to season the chicken when you cook it. Susan adds sage to her salad while mixing it and that is probably why Brian liked it so much.

Many recipes have you poach the chicken in chicken broth to cook it. Adding aromatics to the poaching water (fresh or dried) like thyme, oregano, sage leaves, rosemary, ground coriander, peppercorns, or garlic will enhance the flavor.
- One recipe has you cover chicken breasts with enough cold water to cover the chicken by 2 inches. Season the water and the chicken with salt, then add dried or fresh herbs for flavor. Bring it to a boil uncovered, and when it’s boiling, flip the chicken breasts over. Cover the pot with a lid, turn off the heat, and let the chicken sit in the pot without opening the lid for 10 minutes. Then, check that it’s cooked to an internal temperature of 165F. Remove the poached chicken from the pot onto a board and let it sit there for 5 minutes to lock in the juices. Then, slice it or shred the chicken.

Other recipes swear by baking bone-in, skin on chicken. You could marinate in vinaigrette dressing about an hour prior to cooking your chicken breast. Or broil, or grill.

Variations:

Chicken salad is open to a lot of interpretations. Many recipes call for grapes, cut in half. Some like to use a little sour cream or yogurt in place of some of the mayonniase, finely chopped onion or green onion, a teaspoon of dijon or honey dijon mustard, fresh herbs, dried cranberries or apples in place of grapes, curry powder, etc. The Pioneer Woman even likes to add a few teaspoons of brown sugar to hers. She adds a tablespoon or so lemon juice and uses the sugar to combat the acidity of the lemon juice. She warns not to use too much sugar and suggests a little finely chopped crisp bacon. I think grated, not sliced, carrot might also be good.

A nice combination in the fall would be chicken cooked and flavored with poultry seasoning or curry powder (1/2 tsp. or to taste), chopped apples, dried cranberries or raisins, toasted walnuts or pecans, thin sliced celery, maybe a little green onion and mayonnaise. The ingredients are similar to Waldorf Salad.

Susan's recipe: Susan likes to add a little sprinkle of sage and a little fried crumbled bacon to her chicken salad. I believe she added a little minced onion along with the celery. No fruit or nuts. Brian says this is the best chicken salad he has ever eaten.

For the chicken salad:
Cooked chicken, cubed (some people like their chicken more finely shredded)
Celery, sliced very thin
Green or other onion, minced
Mayonnaise (or mayo and sour cream)
Walnuts or pecans, toasted and broken into pieces, or slivered almonds (optional)
Dried fruit such as cranberries or raisins, chopped fresh apples, or fresh grape halves (optional)

For making a sandwich:
Lettuce leaves, or fresh alfalfa sprouts
Bread, hamburger rolls, or croissants
Butter for the bread

Mix cooked chicken with just enough mayonnaise to make it hold together. Add finely sliced celery and onion to taste, walnuts and fruits, if using. Spread bread with butter (a must for me), chicken salad, and add a lettuce leaf or alfalfa sprouts. Top with a second piece of bread. Cut in two diagonally.