Monday, March 28, 2011

Chicken Salad Ideas for Exciting New Dishes

Chicken salad usually consists of chopped chicken, mayonnaise, and a few other ingredient used as a binder. Other ingredients may be added to add texture and flavor, such as nuts and celery. There is a wide range of traditional chicken salad, but majority of recipes consist of these basic ingredients.

What's great about chicken salads is that they can be easily doubled and tripled in size without compromising the taste of the original recipe. There is also much room for creativity to accommodate different tastes. But first, learn the basics, and then move on to experimenting.

The Basics: Cooking the Chicken:
Chicken salads often taste best when the chicken is baked. However, there's no stopping you from grilling, boiling, sautéing, or using other cooking techniques to cook your chicken. You may even utilize precooked chicken breast strips if you're strapped for time. Some basic ideas when serving the dish would be to eat it with crackers, place it on bread as a sandwich, or top it off with hard-cooked egg slices.


Chicken Caesar Salad:
If the Caesar dressing is your favorite, then you should try this chicken salad version. Simply add Caesar salad dressing over cooked, cubed chicken and toss to coat. In another bowl, mix chicken mixture, tomato, lettuce and onion. Top it all off with croutons and grated cheese.


Spicy Chicken Salad:
This is a warm salad and can be eaten as a side-dish or light lunch. It can also be eaten with bread or potatoes for dinner. This salad has the perfect balance with the meat and spicy dressing poured over the cool salad. First cook some bacon with olive oil in a frying pan, and set the bacon aside when done. Fry chicken strips in the bacon fat that's left in the pan and set aside once browned and cooked thoroughly. Place sliced tomatoes, red and orange bell pepper, and spring onions into a large serving bowl. Add in some lettuce and cucumber strips and set aside. Place finely chopped chili pepper, lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar onto the pan and bring to a boil. Mix in the chicken pieces and bacon and keep stirring to heat all the ingredients. Using a slotted spoon, place the hot mixture over the salad and serve.


Asian Chicken Salad:
While there are many variations, typical characteristics of most Asian chicken salads consist of chicken, lettuce, sesame oil in the dressing, ginger, and crunchy pieces of deep-fried noodles. Some versions may use bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, almonds, peanuts and mandarin orange slices.


Light Chicken Salad:
For a healthier and lighter version, use light mayonnaise and lots of onion, celery, and herbs for flavor. Some herbs that will work well include thyme, parsley, garlic powder, black pepper and celery salt. Combine all the ingredients together, add cooked chicken, toss, put in the fridge to coolPsychology Articles, and serve! Very light and easy to prepare.


You only have your imagination to create a one-of-a-kind dish for your family and guests. The possibilities are endless. 

Article Tags: Chicken Salad
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chicken salad makes a great entrée, appetizer or sandwich spread. Find a delicious chicken salad recipe for your next party, picnic, or family get together. Inspired from cuisines around the world, we offer the best chicken breast recipes for every occasion. Whether it is fried, broiled, grilled, sauteed, baked, or braised, chicken is the perfect choice.

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