Designing Your Best Chicken Salad

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You have options!

When creating your favorite salad to accompany grilled chicken, check out how easy this is to pull together.

Add your favorites to this simple salad to make it your own (or use mine)

Often on Sundays when we’re grilling, I throw a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the grill to use during the week. One of the easiest, and most delicious recipes using grilled chicken, is a salad with grilled vegetables and all your other favorites salad ingredients.

What are your favs?

Here are my go-to favorites that combine to make a delicious salad

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My Best Grilled Chicken Salad

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 cups baby arugula

• 1 cup sliced Belgian endive (1 medium or two small heads)

• 1/3 cup of 2-3 of the following: cherry tomatoes (sliced in half), English cucumbers (seeds removed, cubed), blanched asparagus (1” pieces)

• 1/4 cup of 2-4 of the following: golden raisins, Kalamata olives (sliced in half), hearts of palm (sliced in half moons), roughly chopped roasted almonds or pistachios, blueberries or sliced strawberries

• 1/3 cup of one of the following cheeses: crumbled feta, shaved Parmesan Reggiano, shaved Manchego

• cracked black pepper

• grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts (see notes)

Basic Vinaigrette

• 1 clove garlic (or small shallot, finely chopped)

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or white, or Champagne)

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (finely, chives, chervil, flat-leaf parsley or dill)

• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  Directions

  1. Whisk together dressing ingredients, or combine them in a blender. Refrigerate until ready to use.

  2. Combine the arugula, endive, and your chosen ingredients in a large bowl.

  3. When ready to serve, drizzle dressing on the salad and toss with cracked black pepper. Don’t use the entire amount of dressing. You may want to put some on the side for those who want more.

  4. Served alongside sliced grilled chicken breasts on a beautiful platter.

Note: you may purchase an already cooked rotisserie chicken, remove the breasts and slice. Or, rub two large boneless, skinless chicken breast with olive oil, salt, and pepper and cook for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and slice.

All the ingredients can be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated, and then assembled when ready to eat.

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Add a generous amount of cracked black pepper before serving.

Photos by…Maud Waterman

Here’s another basic vinaigrette from Food Network you might like that uses balsamic vinegar

Let me know how your creation turned out.

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