When it comes to chicken salad I agree with my friend Linda, who says she is on a mission to try all the chicken salads she can in her quest to find the best one. I agree! This year I've tried quite a few chicken salad recipes including one that featured pecans and black olives, one with sunflower seeds and Ranch dressing, one with almonds and sweet pickle relish, and more recently, I was having lunch in Alabama when I had a dill-flavored chicken salad that was quite tasty.
Now here's a question for you: What consistency of chicken do you prefer in your chicken salad? I've had it (and made it) with huge chunks of chicken, with finely diced chicken and with chicken highly processed in the food processor. I guess the finely diced chicken would be my favorite, but I'm open to them all. 
I used the finely processed chicken in this dish because I wanted a very spreadable chicken salad. I also added chopped almonds to give it a little crunch. This recipe has a mild dill flavor because I didn't want to go overboard on the dill. This recipe got it just right for me—but feel free to add more dill if you're the adventurous sort! Chicken Salad with Dill
2 large boneless chicken breasts, fully cooked (about 1-3/4 cups chopped)
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dried dill
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons nuts, optional
Cut chicken into chunks and place in bowl of food processor. Pulse until all chicken is chopped and of a very fine, light consistency. In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, dill, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper.
Add chopped chicken and combine well. If desired, add nuts (I used chopped almonds). This chicken salad is good served hot or cold! Yields about 2 cups.
Another question is, what is your favorite kind of bread for chicken salad? As a child, I preferred Colonial.
ReplyDeleteYour chicken salad recipe sounds good - I've never tried it with dill. I like a spreadable consistency. One of my favorites is chicken salad with curry, grapes and pecans.
ReplyDeletesounds so fantastic!
ReplyDeleteTypically, I use a finely diced chicken in my salad. It takes more work, but in the end, I prefer it that way. On a rare occasion, I'll quickly chop it in the Cuisinart, being careful not to overpulse the chicken. That does make the chicken salad quicker to prepare and easier to spread, but then there are more dishes to clean up!
ReplyDeleteanother good recipe. I like my chicken finely chopped, but wouldn't mind it smoother in a food processor.
ReplyDeleteI like chicken finely diced in chicken salad. I don't care for large chunks. I much prefer chicken breast over dark meat. The addition to dill in the recipe sounds like one I need to try in my search for the perfect chicken salad.
ReplyDeleteI'll eat chicken salad most anyway. But I prefer it to be diced rather than paste.
ReplyDeleteI love chicken salad and I love dill - so I'm sure this one will be a winner. Consistancy-wise, I prefer the chicken fairly well chopped but not too much mayo. Love nuts and grapes in chicken salad, too.
ReplyDelete