If you’re making meat for Shabbat lunch and want an easy and light dish, look no further than this mustard chicken salad. Yeah, I know, people will probably go crazier over the chulent you made, but this dish is simple, refreshing, and did I mention simple? You can serve it on top of a bed of romaine, like I did, or arugula, like Ina did. Or you can shred the chicken and cut the veggies a bit smaller and serve this in sandwiches, my favorite way to eat chicken salad. No matter how you do it, it’s a great Shabbat lunch. This recipe is from Ina’s newest cookbook How Easy Is That? I happen to really like that book, even though I really did not want to purchase it. Not because I don’t like Ina, but because I got it at Sur La Table, so of course I paid full price for it instead of probably half that on Amazon or at Borders. But we were tricked into buying it so that Ina could sign it, of course! It was a book signing, after all, not just a meet and greet, like we thought it might be. And no, she didn’t have any Barefoot Contessa postcards for us that she’d sign. And she didn’t even write our names! But we walked out with cookbooks and a horrible picture of me, Steph, Paulette, and Ina. And I actually really like the cookbook, so I guess it was worth it.
Anyway, every time I look through one of Ina’s cookbooks, I find another recipe that I want to try. Almost all the recipes are bookmarked (of course, the seafood and blue cheese ones are not). This one was one that I skipped over a few times, and then decided it was interesting and I had to give it a try. What better time to do that than when Zeke and I were staying home alone for Shabbat? This and some deli meat, and we had a perfect lunch for two.
The day after making this salad, I actually saw Ina make it on TV! The recipes were pretty different. And the recipe that’s online is different than the one on the show. And mine’s a little different than all three of them. So basically this is a very adaptable recipe, don’t worry if you don’t have all the ingredients you need and make some swaps based on your own tastes. I don’t love tarragon, and definitely wasn’t going to buy tarragon vinegar just for this recipe, so that was out. I am not drinking wine right now, so I did not want to open up a bottle just for the little bit in the recipe online, so I just used white wine vinegar. And I added some dried oregano because I like how oregano tastes with chicken and thought it needed some herbiness.
Mustard Chicken Salad, adapted from Ina Garden
- 2 chicken breasts, bone in and skin on.
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups broccoli florets or broccolini florets
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place the chicken on a sheet pan and rub with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
3. Roast the chicken for 40 minutes, until just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
4. Meanwhile, cook the broccoli florets in boiling water for one minute, then drain and shock in a bowl of ice water till cook. Drain well.
5. Make the dressing: Whisk together the mayo, mustards, vinegar, 2 teaspoons of salt, a teaspoon of pepper, and the oregano. Reserve some dressing because you can always add more – you can’t take it away and too much mayo in chicken salad is gross!
6. Dice the chicken into bite-size pieces (or shred).
7. Add the broccoli, chicken, and tomatoes to the dressing and combine. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to combine.
8. Serve cold or at room temperature. Taste for seasoning before serving. I like to sprinkle the top with salt and pepper before eating.
