In the eighties and early nineties, when my husband and I used to travel up to the Cupertino/Los Altos area, we’d always stop at our favourite “Emporium Department Store” for lunch. They had the best Chicken Salad Sandwich that we’ve ever tasted! This is another “chick recipe” as my husband calls it-though he admits he loved it too.

When the Emporium closed our stomachs felt the loss! Determined to savour that “taste” once again, we got to work recreating it–and then some! Let me tell you! It’s a delicious chicken salad made up of the following ingredients: cooked chicken breast pieces, diced celery, diced apples, red grape halves, toasted walnuts, Brie cheese chunks, a dabbling of mayonnaise and all served on raisin bread that’s been lightly toasted. Oh my God! It’s wonderful! Definitely a serotonin inducer. This recipe can be served as a salad or a sandwich –what best suits the occasion. This is a delightful lunch or a light dinner on a hot night. It’s perfect for sharing with friends and family.

You can make this recipe using a food processor to chop all (except the grapes and the brie) your ingredients or by hand cutting. The hand method is better for presentation and texture because all the chopped pieces are uniform. However, if you’re in a hurry, you can use your processor but be careful not to over grind the produce and turn it into a soupy mess.

This recipe will serve six people, three half sandwiches each. I like to serve each person three half sandwiches (because raisin bread runs small) placed around each dinner plate with extra grapes (still on the vine) in the centre of each plate.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 340g cooked boneless chicken breasts , diced
• 1 cup celery , diced
• 2-1/2 cups Red Seedless grapes , halved
• 3 cups Gala apples , diced
• 3/4 cup toasted walnuts , coarsely chopped
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tablespoons Lemon juice or to taste
• 200g Brie cheese , diced
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 18 slices Raisin bread , lightly toasted

Preparation Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coarsely chop the walnuts and place on a baking sheet. Bake for about ten minutes.
2. While the walnuts are baking, cut up the chicken, celery, red grapes, celery and apples.
3. Combine all the above ingredients. Mix thoroughly but gently.
4. By this time, the walnuts should be out of the oven and cooling. Add them to the mixture and gently mix.
5. Add the mayonnaise and toss again.
6. Add the lemon juice and thoroughly mix.
7. Add the salt and pepper to taste.
8. Carefully trim the outer skin of the Brie cheese. cut into to bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle over mixture and stir to distribute evenly throughout the mixture.
9. Correct seasoning and refrigerate for a few hours to merge the flavors.
10. At serving time, spoon the chicken salad on the toasted slices of raisin bread or serve as a salad with raisin bread diagonally halved on sides of plates.
11. Serve on dinner plates as described above and add extra red grapes to center of each plate and serve. Offer potato chips in separate bowl.

Wine and Food Pairing and Serving Suggestions
A cold Pinot Grigio goes perfectly with this delicious chicken salad.

Susan McGourty is a resident and vineyard owner on the California Central Coast. A former restaurant owner and professional cook, she writes about food and cooking techniques and is the food and recipe editor for TheRomanticTable.Com. Her cooking and recipe blog is at http://theromantictable.com/cooking-with-sue.php

For more recipes, food and wine news and ideas, visit the TheRomanticTable.Com http://theromantictable.com – an online magazine about food, wine and recipes from the California Central Coast.

What is great about either tuna or chicken salads is that there is hardly any wastage (unless of course, the cook has already messed up the salad big time). Should the preparation for these salads exceed the expected consumption, they can be recycled the next day as a sandwich.

Just throw in maybe feta or mozzarella cheese, place it on any bread of your choice, pop it in the oven and you are ready to go with a totally different dish. For your convenience, I have compiled the following must-try chicken salad sandwich recipes for all those salad left-overs.

CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH

Ingredients:

1/2 – cups cooked chicken breast, diced
1/2 – cup celery, diced
1/2 – onion, diced
1/2 – cup salad dressing (or mayonnaise)
1/2 – teaspoon oregano
1/4 – teaspoon salt
1/8 – teaspoon pepper
1 – hard-cooked egg, peeled
1 – tomato, 8 slices
4 – lettuce leaves
8 – slices of bread (your choice of bread)

Directions:

• You want to add the cooked chicken breast, celery, onion, salad dressing (or mayonnaise), oregano, salt, pepper, hard-cooked egg in a food processor.
• Pulsate food processor about 4 times.
• You want ingredients well mixed; however, only coarsely chopped.
• With a tablespoon, spread chicken salad mixture on a slice of bread; add 2 tomato slices, a leaf of lettuce and top with second bread slice.

WALDORF CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH
Ingredients:

4 Kaiser rolls, cut in half
1 cup deli chicken salad
12 very thin apple slices
4 slices Cheddar cheese

PREPARATION:
Layer bottom half of each roll with salad, 3 apple slices and 1 cheese slice. Top with tops of rolls. (You can spread the kaiser rolls with a thin layered of softened butter before making the sandwiches, if you’d like.)

4 servings
CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICH RECIPE
Ingredients:

2 cups cooked diced chicken Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
1 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons pickle relish
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon dill
8 slices thin white bread

Directions:

Mix together ingredients. Chill for several hours. Spread chicken mixture on bread and remove crusts. Cut into squares or triangles.

PESTO CHICKEN SALAD ON BAGELS
Ingredients:

1 cup diced cooked chicken
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup purchased pesto
4 whole wheat — or white bagels, split

Directions:
In large bowl, combine all ingredients except bagels; mix well.
Spread chicken mixture on each bagel half.

Low Jeremy maintains http://salad-making.articlesforreprint.com