Chicken salad sandwich

It’s summertime and the sandwiches should be cool, dreamy, and easy. Cue the chicken salad sandwich.

It’s perfect: it makes use of leftover chicken; it incorporates fruits like diced apple, grapes, even mango; and I’ve lightened the dressing so it’s cool and refreshing but lower in calories too.

This is super easy to make because, essentially, all you need to do is chop things, make a quick dressing, toss, and serve on toast, whole wheat bread, a bed of lettuce, a wrap, or, in this case, a Ace Bakery croissant fresh out of the oven.

I’m starting with leftover chicken breasts that have been coated with Craig’s custom spices, roasted at 350 F for about 45 minutes, from last night’s dinner. Craig’s custom spice rub for 4 chicken breasts consists of: 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp blackpeppercorn. Toast the spices lightly in a pan to bloom the flavours then crush them in a mortar and pestle. You get nice, subtle heat and deep flavour.

Here are last night’s leftovers.

Remove the skin and bone, chop chicken breasts into 1/2 inch cubes.

Now to add the groceries. Dice 2 celery stalks, 1 shallot (red or green onion will do), 1 peeled apple, about 2 tbsp of fresh chives (you could use tarragon or basil if you have it), and about 1/4 crushed walnuts (you could use sliced almonds).

Now to make the dressing. Most chicken salad recipes simply say add mayo. Boooring! I blend 1/2 cup Hellmann’s mayonnaise, 1/2 plain yogurt, 1 tbsp dijon, and a dash of soy sauce for extra flavour. You could add a tsp of curry powder—I don’t because the chicken is already nicely spiced. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fold the dressing into the chicken and veggies/fruit/nut mixture, adding a little at a time until it’s creamy but not a goopy mess (I had about 1/4 cup leftover, which is great for an iceberg lettuce wedge later).

Here’s my chicken salad.

This is a nice, no-cook, refreshing salad to pile into a croissant and enjoy outside for a lovely summer lunch.

— Trish Hennessy