The Type Of Chicken Ina Garten Never Uses For Her Salads
If you've ever had somebody suggest you "just turn the leftovers into chicken salad" like it's a last-ditch, low-effort trick to disguise leftovers, you know they're doing this glorious dish a disservice. The mere thought that chicken salad is an afterthought is at best misguided and at worse a true "are you even kidding me" moment. Chicken salad is a combination of juicy poultry, well-seasoned dressing, and a few thoughtful mix-in ingredients. It's equally delicious served with crackers, spooned into half an avocado, slathered on well-toasted bread, or eaten straight from the mixing bowl.
However, though there are many different ways to make and enjoy this dish, there's one particular form of chicken the grande dame of chicken salad herself (of course it's Ina Garten, who else could possibly wear the chicken salad crown as elegantly as she?) won't ever use. If it's boiled, then it's spoiled.
Roast that chicken
Before her Food Network years, Garten (widely known and adored as The Barefoot Contessa) rose to success by running her upscale Hamptons specialty food store and then becoming a cookbook author. She's definitely made more than just a few batches of chicken salad during her time in the kitchen. And no matter the exact recipe she uses, her recipes all feature chicken breast roasted on the bone.
She roasts chicken with the skin and the bone, then removes them to prepare the salad. She says this provides moisture and flavor that boiling just doesn't. Garten tells Epicurious that roasting the chicken isn't only more flavorful for the chicken salad, but it's actually easier. All you need is a baking sheet to roast the chicken breasts. If you boil or even poach the poultry, you're left with pots of boiling water and much of the chicken flavor has melted away.
Now, let your add-ins run wild
Now that you know how Ina Garten will never make a chicken salad, you've got a lot more leeway with what she thinks tastes great in one. Her various recipes feature all sorts of ingredients, from the mayonnaise sliced green grapes and fresh tarragon of Chicken Salad Veronique to the roasted pecans and walnuts that give a hearty crunch to Chicken Salad Contessa. She clearly doesn't shy away from flavor or texture. And with chicken that starts off so juicy, flavorful, and tender, any add-ins really are gilding the lily to a completely delicious effect.
Anything from diced celery and pickle relish to the poppy seeds and apples in Waldorf chicken salad is invited to the chicken salad party. As long as you follow the golden rule of roasting the chicken instead of boiling it, you're on the track to success. Lunchtime can't come soon enough.