Food and Friendship

Santa Barbara

it’s all relative

by

Feeling the crunch of the holiday season? Einstein’s theory of special relativity says that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else. Now, we’re no scientists, but our guess is Einstein based his theory on observing the holiday season. Time definitely feels like it’s speeding up and making it almost impossible to manage our constantly growing “to do” list. With both of us having family in for the holidays, lots of family, it’s definitely all relative 😊. And we’re looking for some easy, make-in-advance, dishes to feed a crowd. Here are two foolproof salad recipes made recently to celebrate our friends Terry and Jeanne’s very big birthdays. Both can easily be prepared ahead, ready as a snack for arriving guests or a healthy lunchtime treat.


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tarragon chicken salad
 
This recipe is adapted from the Silver Palate cookbook. It's always fun to serve a salad like this on top of a bed of your favorite greens tossed lightly with olive oil and lemon juice. Adding nasturtium and/or borage petals, and watermelon radish for garni gives the salad a festive flair.
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds boneless, skinless whole chicken breasts (I used skin on,
  • bone-in and followed Ina Gartens directions for roasting chicken breasts)
  • 1 cup Crème Fraîche or heavy cream (used for cooking chicken breasts)
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann’s
  • 2 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch-long pencil strips
  • ½ cup shelled walnuts or slivered almonds
  • 1 cup red grapes
  • 1 tablespoon crumbled dried tarragon or 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or a combo of parsley, mint, basil, chives
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste to brighten up salad
  • Salad greens of your choice
  • Olive oil
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Edible flowers and/or sprouts, radishes for garnish, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer in a large jellyroll pan. Spread evenly with the crème fraiche and bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Or use bone in skin on like Ina
  3. Shred the meat into bite-size pieces and transfer to a bowl.
  4. Whisk the sour cream and mayonnaise together in a small bowl and pour over the chicken mixture.
  5. Add the celery, walnuts, grapes, tarragon, additional herbs, and salt and pepper, and toss well.
  6. Add lemon juice to taste
  7. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours. Taste and correct the seasoning before serving.
  8. Serve on a bed of greens tossed lightly with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
  9. Garnish with flowers and/or sprouts and radishes
  10. Suggested add-ons:
  11. Add 1 cup dried cranberries instead of grapes
  12. Substitute cashews, almonds or pecans instead of walnuts
  13. Add ¼ cup diced red onion or scallions


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Moroccan Chicken Salad
 
A bonafide healthy salad adapted from Dr. Weill's True Food cookbook, this North African-inspired salad is great on its own, served over a bed of greens, or as an open-faced sandwich. Notice the recipe calls for cooked chicken; we use roasted or boiled chicken breasts. (The pizza slice on the side in the photo is a basic pizza dough baked and topped with sliced lemons and tomatoes with a sprinkling of mozzarella and Parmesan.)
Ingredients
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
  • 1 small celery stalk, diced
  • ½ cup chopped roasted salted cashews or almonds
  • ½ cup gold raisins
  • ¼ cup diced jicama
  • 3 or 4 scallions, white part only, chopped
  • Pickled carrots (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, mustard, lime juice, curry powder, salt, lime zest, and cilantro or parsley.
  2. Whisk well to combine.
  3. Add the chicken, celery, cashews, raisins, jicama and scallions and mix thoroughly
  4. Serve over a bed of lettuce tossed lightly with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Or chop the lettuce and mix it into the salad. Top with pickled carrots if desired.

 

Comments

  1. As always so well written, and although it never would have occurred to me to make these salads at this time of year, why not?