Power Chicken Salad Recipe

Sometimes the best approach is the simplest one. A power protein mix of chicken breast, mayonnaise, walnuts, cucumbers and sweet onions. Flavoured generously with fresh tarragon and zang with fresh lemon. All I can think of especially after a good workout at the gym is food. I need PROTEIN. I can't be deflating my wallet with steak or fish eating lunch out every other day and needed to put a stop to my daily egg indulgence plus I had been lazy to cook lunch recently. Chicken salad are the next bet. I can make heaps and store it in the fridge to be topped up onto salads, sandwiches or even munchies for some immediate power boost. Chicken breast, high is clean protein and quite a cheap piece comparing other meat.

Remembering my catering days, I used to make a variation of this for the menu as canapés. The classic chicken waldorf salad on top of a mini tartlet with a leaf of baby lettuce or stuffed into halved tomato shells. I tend to forget my meals when I work in the restaurant kitchen and always saved myself a small portion of this salad to fuel up as needed throughout the day. This chicken salad is somewhat similar without apples and with a little moroccan twist.

Ingredients

2 chicken breast poached & diced, recipe follows
1/2 cucumber, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup sweet onion finely chopped
2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon with one clove garlic
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest finely chopped
1 tablespoon strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
3-4 tablespoon prepared or homemade mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon worchester sauce
100g of walnuts broken up
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
Handful of raisins (soaked) or grapes
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

- BRINING CHICKEN
- Chicken breast covered in salted water for a minimum of 2 hours.

POACHED CHICKEN

Prepare poaching liquid with chicken stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to very low, place the chicken breast and cover. Poach the chicken for 15-20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove chicken from the saucepan cool the chicken breast. Remove skin. Diced as required.

NUTS
In a small saucepan, gentle fry the nuts in olive oil with cumin and paprika and salt. let it cool. Toss everything together. Set aside. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

SERVING
Serve on a bed of lettuce with sliced tomatoes and half an avocado or in a chicken club sandwich made with artisanal bread, crispy smoked bacon, vine-ripened tomatoes and lettuce.

Enjoy! Till next post, ss.

Labels: chicken salad, healthy eating, low carbs, lunch, poaching, protein, recipe, waldorf salad