Chicken Salad with Greens

I apologize for the lack of posting in the last week.  Unfortunately, we caught the flu that has been lurking around, and there hasn’t been much cooking in this kitchen.  But we’re all better now and excited to share some delicious meals.

As I’ve mentioned before, Sam and I like to make our own vegetable and chicken stock.  It’s healthier- you know what ingredients you’re putting in, especially the amount of salt.  Throughout the month I save odds and ends of various vegetables, and add them to a bag in the freezer.  Using up these scarps (asparagus ends, broccoli stems, celery ends or parsley) also helps with less garbage, and better use of all of your groceries.  The broth or stock is then frozen, and can be defrosted any time we need it for soups.

My favorite part is actually taking the chicken meat, and making something with it.  The last time I posted a recipe like this it was the Indian Chicken Soup, which is a top 3 most viewed post on this blog.  To make the Indian Chicken Soup, or this Chicken Salad, you can also use cooked chicken breasts or leftover rotisserie chicken.

This is a perfect recipe for an easy lunch, or dinner.  And with the weather getting nicer by the day (spring, where are you?!?) hopefully you’ll be attending cookouts and get together with friends soon enough.  Eat it with a fork, or enjoy it between two slices of fresh bread.  It’s light, refreshing and it’s got a little crunch.

Chicken Salad with Greens
A Fifth Floor Kitchen Original

4 cups of shredded chicken
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups of fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup green peas
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Add all of the ingredients into a large bowl, then stir together.  Taste test if the salad is wet enough for you, if not add a little more mayo/yogurt mixture.  Also, check on the salt and pepper amounts if they are to your liking.

*The wetness and salt amounts will differ on what kind of chicken you’re using- rotisserie or fresh, or one that has been used to make broth.

Indian Chicken Curry Wrap

My apologies (once again) for not posting as often.  It’s just that busy time of the year- and with the beautiful weather outside, it’s hard to make yourself stay in the kitchen!  Last year at this time we were preparing for our amazing European Adventure (Kraków, Vienna and Munich), this year we’re getting ready for our wedding!

At times like these I try to find recipes which are really simple and don’t take too much time to prepare.  With the extra time we can sneak in a run, some extra time with friends, or watch our favorite football games!

For this recipe I used leftover chicken, making it a whole new dish with curry flavors.  This is perfect for a lunch or dinner, feel free to add some sides!

Indian Chicken Curry Wrap
Adapted From: Cooking Light (June 2011)

1 1/4 lb coooked chicken, shredded or cubed
5 nectarines, chopped
1 mango, peeled & chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 cup chopped green onions
1 inch ginger, peeled & grated
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp chopped mint
1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)
1 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
juice of 1 lime
lettuce or arugula
tortillas or wraps

In a large bowl, combine: chicken, nectarines, mango, red onion, green onions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, mint and jalapeño.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the greek yogurt, salt, pepper, curry powder, chili powder, and lime juice.  Add the dressing to the chicken mixture.  Then stir everything together.

Add a handful of lettuce or arugula onto a tortilla, then add in the chicken curry mixture.  Roll the tortilla, and enjoy!

Food Matters Project #16: Chicken in Green Salsa

Another wonderful dinner idea from the Food Matters Project!  We had a busy weekend and didn’t get a chance to make this until tonight, so it was a little improvisation of what we had in the fridge.

This weeks recipe was chosen by Sarah of Food and Frederick.  We’ve been following each other on Twitter (@foodandfred), I think there is a bit of a bond since Frederick, MD is not too far from Washington D.C.  I enjoy seeing Sarah’s pictures, and stories about travel, food and running!  Sarah chose the Mexican-style fruit salad with grilled or broiled fish from Mark Bittman’s The Food Matters Cookbook.  To check out what everyone else from The Food Matters Project did, look here and find the link that looks delicious!

How did the fruit salad with grilled fish turn into a chicken with green salsa?  We didn’t have fish, but I did buy chicken breasts from the Penn Quarter Farmer’s Market this past week.  Evensong Farm has been selling eggs at the farmers market, and recently started having chicken- so I bought a couple of breasts to try.  We didn’t have any fruit to make a salsa, but we did have some green veggies that could make a salsa.  With a little inspiration from Pinterest (check out Fifth Floor Kitchen’s page), we figured out dinner!

Chicken in Green Salsa
Inspired by: Sunset

We ate this dish with roasted potatoes (with salt, pepper and olive oil), but you can also do this over rice.  This wasn’t very spicy, but you can always take out the seeds from the jalapeños, or just omit them (a green bell pepper would give it extra flavor). 

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tomatillos, quartered (skins taken off)
2 poblano chiles, roughly chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
2 jalapeños, halved (optional- or can take out seeds before adding)
1 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large chicken breasts

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Once it’s melted, add the onion.  Sauté on lower heat until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.  Then add the garlic and leave over the heat for another 3 minutes.

Add everything into a food processor (or blender): the onion-garlic mixture, tomatillos, poblano chiles, cilantro, jalapeños, cream cheese, chicken broth, salt and pepper.  Process all of the ingredients until they are pureed.

In a baking dish, place the chicken breasts, and then cover them with the pureed salsa.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  When the oven is heated, bake the chicken for about 45 minutes.  Check to make sure to chicken has cooked through before serving.

Triple Green Chicken Salad

About every other month we make chicken stock.  Yes, the kind you boil water, add some veggies, a whole chicken, and some salt and pepper.  It’s delicious, flavorful and I can never wait to add it to future soups.

We always use a whole chicken, and I feel like all the meat should be used.  Since last week we also made bread, I thought a chicken salad would be perfect for lunch!  I wish this past Sunday would have been nicer in DC (it was raining the whole day), otherwise we would have had a little picnic on the Mall for Earth Day.

Need another idea for how to use up leftover chicken?  Try tabbouleh with shredded chicken (and you can make your own pitas too)!

I liked this chicken salad since it had some crunch in it, but rather than using celery, there were other veggies in this.  I also liked it in a tortilla with some lettuce and hot sauce- perfect lunch wrap!

Triple Green Chicken Salad
Adapted from: Bon Appétit Magazine (April 2012)

If you don’t have any leftover chicken, you can poach and shred chicken breasts, or use rotisserie chicken.  More yogurt and less mayo will also give this a great taste, but remember to add some mustard- gives it better flavor.

Dressing:
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Salad:
4 sprigs of tarragon, minced
4 shallots, minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb shredded chicken
1 cup sugar snap peas, thinly sliced
1/2 cup snow peas, thinly sliced
1 cup green peas (defrosted or fresh)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup chives, chopped
1 tsp lemon zest

In a bowl combine the following ingredients for the dressing: yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

In a larger bowl combine the rest of the ingredients for the chicken salad: tarragon, shallots, garlic, chicken, sugar snap peas, snow peas, green peas, parsley, chives, and lemon zest.  Mix all of the ingredients together, then add the dressing.  Continue to stir until everything is well mixed.