Today, we’re featuring a quick salad dish perfect for a spring lunch or to enjoy during a weekend picnic. It’s very convenient to make if you have leftover roasted or barbecued chicken. Check our easy recipe and Art of the Home suggestions below. Enjoy and bon appétit!
Chicken & Goat Cheese Salad in Sauce Vinaigrette
INGREDIENTS (for 4 servings)
- 1 big lettuce (e.g. Boston lettuce or red leaf lettuce, use you favorite one)
- 2 cups of leftover chicken (more or less, you can use whatever you have left). If you don’t have any leftovers, you can grill or pan fry 2 chicken breasts.
- 4-6 ounces of goat cheese (or the equivalent of a 2 inches slice of a goat cheese log)
- 6 TBSP of olive oil (you can use vegetable oil also)
- 2 TBSP of balsamic vinegar (you can use a fine red wine vinegar also)
- 1 of spicy mustard (e.g. Maille Dijon mustard: has the closest taste to what I use when I am in France). You can use 2 tsp if you prefer a stronger vinaigrette.
- 1 minced shallot
- Salt & pepper
DIRECTIONS TO MAKE THE SAUCE VINAIGRETTE
The key in any vinaigrette sauce is to maintain a 3 to 1 ratio of oil to vinegar.
- Mix 1 teaspoon of mustard with 1-2 pinches of salt and 2 turns of ground pepper mill (or 2 pinches of pepper). Mix in 2 tablespoons of vinegar.
- Using a spoon or whisk, slowly mix in 6 tablespoons of olive oil, a few drops at a time. You want to make sure your vinaigrette emulsifies (i.e. mixing the oil and vinegar together so it becomes an nicely homogenized mixture) otherwise your salad will be coated with oil and the vinegar will fall to the bottom of the bowl. If it doesn’t or if you left the vinaigrette in the fridge for a short while, mix energetically and it should catch. In the worst case, a blender will do the trick.
- Add in minced shallots.
- Taste and add more salt & pepper if needed.
DIRECTIONS TO MAKE THE CHICKEN & GOAT CHEESE SALAD
- Wash and prepare lettuce. Tip: I like to cut the leaves in bite sized pieces. It is especially important to dry your lettuce after you put it in the spinner. I dry it using lint free dish clothes that I save for that purpose but you can also use a few paper towels. A well dried lettuce will hold the vinaigrette much better and it will be tastier.
- Cut leftover chicken into small pieces. Set aside.
- Place lettuce in large serving bowl and mix in the vinaigrette.
- Spread out cut chicken on top of the lettuce. Crumble goat cheese with your fingers on top of the chicken.
- Serve and enjoy!
A FEW SUGGESTIONS
- Quick lunch: if you don’t have time to make the vinaigrette, simply use your favorite salad dressing (an Art of Home favorite is Newman’s Own Family Italian Recipe). You can have it handy in your fridge (or your fridge at work) and use it for step 3 above.
- Garlic: if you like garlic, it is also delicious to add in 1-2 cloves of minced garlic with the minced shallots in step 3 of the directions of sauce vinaigrette. And you can use our Art of the Home tips to remove garlic odor.