Quick & Tasty Chicken Salad!
I use a chopper or food processor to chop this chicken salad up lickety-split! The tastiness comes from a few flavorful friends in the pantry: pitted kalamata olives (but any olive would work) and giardiniera; an Italian style mix of pickled vegetables.
Giardiniera:
Giardiniera usually contains a mix of pickled carrots, peppers, cauliflower, celery, olives etc. that are packed in a brine. You can find it in mild or hot versions. At the grocery store it’s usually stocked where you would find jars of pickles, olives and roasted peppers. (There is sometimes a “Chicago” style version that is packed in oil. I don’t use that type for this particular recipe – but this style is awesome on hot dogs!)
I love using giardiniera in chicken salad as it’s an easy way to add pre-cut tangy-tasty veggies to your salad. This salad is chopped up fine, so everything stays put on your chicken salad sandwich. While you have your food processor/chopper out, you can also make a quick homemade no-raw-egg “mayonnaise” to go in your chicken salad – recipe here. Enjoy!
Italian Style Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup giardiniera, drained mild or hot
- 2 tablespoons fresh Italian flat parsley leaves
- 2 cups cooked chicken rotisserie chicken works great
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- I like to chop this chicken salad in a chopper or food processor. It makes a nice texture that holds together on a sandwich.
- Add olives, giardiniera, parsley to food processor. Break the chicken into about 1 1/2 inch pieces and add on top of the vegetable mixture. Pulse to chop the vegetables and chicken.
- Pour the chicken mixture into a bowl and add mayonnaise, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stir to mix.
- I like to serve this chicken salad on ciabatta buns that are split, drizzled with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and toasted.
Lynn Kowalski
Are you ever going to write a cookbook? I sure hope so.
Christina Verrelli
I hope to soon Lynn!
jennifer L. royer
I agree with Lynn looking for a cookbook from you! trying to print out all your recipes can be a pain would love a pet book and a receipe book your amazing!
Christina Verrelli
Hi Jennifer – Hoping to have a cookbook soon!