Chicken soup salad
Chicken soup in the style of chicken salad, you know? It’s like a classic chicken salad you get from the deli in new york, shredded super thin and dressed with mayo.
I had a thought to use the same recipe concept as I use for my chicken soups and repurpose it into my chicken salad. When I make chicken soup, I blend the carrot, celery, onion and garlic and add it back into the soup so it turns the soup into ~liquid gold~.
This time, I did the same thing again - blended the carrot, celery, onion and garlic and used it to dress my chicken salad. DELICIOUS! <3 Flu season, who?!
Ingredients:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 chicken breasts, I prefer skin on, but you do you!
2/3 cup mayo, I used kewpie but any mayo will do
2 carrots, rough chop
2 stalks of celery, rough chop
1 white onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, smashed
thumb-sized piece of ginger, rough chop
1 bay leaf
juice of 1/2 a lemon
fresh parsley, finely sliced
salt and cracked black pepper
optional: 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
optional: zest of a lemon
Method:
Prep chicken: season chicken generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Bring a cast iron pot, or any pot with a lid, to medium-high heat and add olive oil.
Sear chicken: once the oil is hot, add chicken breasts in. Sear on the first side for about 5 mins, or until golden, then flip and turn the heat down to medium-low. Sear on the second side a bit longer, closer to 10 mins. It should be golden on both sides and cooked through. Cut into the breast to make sure it’s cooked through. Set aside to cool slightly.
Sear veggies: turn the heat up to medium-high again and add celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, carrot and ginger to the pot and don’t stir it, just let it sear on this first side for 5 mins. After, add 1/2 cup water and place the lid on. Let the veggies steam and soften for 10 mins. In the meantime, shred the chicken.
Shred chicken: if you have a stand mixer, add the chicken breasts in and mix using the paddle attachment. Or, you can shred the chicken using a fork until it’s the size you prefer it to be. I like mine super shredded! Add mayo in while the chicken is still warm and stir to mix evenly. Set aside.
Blend veggies: now that the veggies are done cooking, turn off the heat and add them to a blender (but discard the bay leaf). The liquid at the bottom of the pot should be about 1-2 tbsp worth of liquid. Add that in to the blender. If there’s more liquid than that, only add in 1-2 tbsp. Add salt and pepper (and nutritional yeast, if using), plus lemon juice, to the veggies and blend until super smooth. The consistency should be that of baby food, sorry to say!! Lol
Mix the salad: pour the veggie mix into the chicken and mayo. Mix until smooth. Add parsley and mix. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Place into the fridge to cool and enjoy once it’s cold. If it looks a bit loose, it will firm up slightly in the fridge.
