Life Changing Chicken Salad

A No Mayo Version Bursting with Big Flavors

Last Summer I tried my first bite of chicken salad ever. Chicken salad is commonly made with mayo meaning with my deep aversion to mayo, I could never try it. But last year we were on a thrifting day down in Hailey, ID and popped into Cafe Della. Theirs is slightly more traditional and made with Greek yogurt, but it definitely inspired this one.

This is so good with big flavors like dill, green olives and Calabrian chilis. It’s got the slightest hint of heat but isn’t hot. I made a big batch and have since eaten it on crackers, tucked it into beautiful lettuce wraps and also turned it into a stunning sandwich. I love dishes like this that are as versatile as they are delicious.

Chicken salad is a great way to jazz up a boring old rotisserie chicken or perfect if you have leftover chicken. A little goes a long way.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

The meat of one-half of a rotisserie chicken, skin removed and chopped fairly small, include white and dark meat, or about 2 cups

1 heaped tablespoon Calabrian chili

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 chopped Casa Bellerano green olives

1 heaped teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped dill leaves

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 containers of creme fraiche - 8 ounce containers

1 teaspoon flavorful olive oil

Method

Place the chopped chicken in a large mixing bowl. Add the Calabrian chili, celery, green olives, horseradish, spring onions, dill, and parsley. Mix everything lightly but thoroughly. Add the salt and pepper and mix in. Then stir in the wet ingredients; lemon juice, creme fraiche, and olive oil. As simply as that and you are done.

Serve Chicken Salad as a dip with pieces of torn baguette. Or you can serve it in a sandwich.

This also keeps very well. I ate it 3 days after I made it originally and it still has all the bite, flavor and crunch as day 1.

Enjoy!

xx Corre