Chicken Salad Contessa

I've been craving a good chicken salad for a while now. But all of the recipes I found seemed to have too much stuff in them. I like my chicken salad to be fairly simple but with big flavor. Something that I can put together exactly the same way every time or if I'm feeling like something different, easy to adapt and still be delicious.

When I woke up this morning, I turned on the Food Network (really, I need to find another network to watch every once in awhile!) and it was the beginning of Barefoot Contessa marathon. Ina is one of my favorite Food Network chefs. When I first watched her, I was a bit afraid of her. It seemed that her recipes were very complicated and way to sophisticated for me. However, I watched her Behind the Chef special and discovered that she was a self taught chef. For some reason, that made her more approchable to me. I took another look at her recipes and discovered that they really weren't as complicated as I once thought. Since then I have tried to test more of her recipes and for the most part have been pleasantly rewarded.

One of the first recipes she made this morning was Chicken Salad Veronique. I was almost set on making it until I checked the Food Network site for the recipe and discovered her Chicken Salad Contessa. Oh my. Yum! This recipe had pecans (which I love) and sour cream in the dressing. I've never had sour cream in my chicken salad but it sounded delicious. Her recipe called for green grapes but I don't have any at the moment so I used dried cranberries. I also used some dill and a pinch of parsley since I am also out of tarragon. This was one of the best, if not the best, chicken salad I have ever had. Normally, chicken salad has a very overwhelming mayonnaise flavor but the combination of mayo and sour cream tones it down so the flavor of the cranberries, chicken, and pecan really come through. If you are a chicken salad fan, I recommend this version. It is very customizable because it is very simple. mmm...but it is oh so delicious!

Chicken Salad Contessa...Heather Style

2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (1 1/2 pounds) (I used a fresh rotisserie chicken from the store)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup walnuts halves
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves, divided (I used
1 cup green grapes, cut in 1/2 (I used Dried Cranberries)
Lettuce leaves, for serving ( I served mine on toasted whole grain bread)


If using the chicken breasts, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (Skip this step if using a store bought rotisserie chicken.)

Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool.

When the chicken is cool, remove meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Cut the chicken into a 3/4-inch dice.

Meanwhile, place the pecans and walnuts on a separate sheet pan and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.

For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fold in half the chopped tarragon leaves.

Place the diced chicken in a bowl, add the pecans, walnuts and grapes. Pour the dressing over the chicken and toss well. Sprinkle the remaining chopped tarragon leaves on top, and serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.

Adapted from Ina Garten's Chicken Salad Contessa

For the original Chicken Salad Contessa, click here. The site says its available for a limited time only, so check it out now if you are interested.