Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing.

Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing 

from The Southern Cook's Handbook

For the chicken: 
8-10 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 1 quart when prepared) 
About 3 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth 
6-8 sprigs parsley 
1 whole rib celery or 1 teaspoon celery juice 
Water, as needed 

For the dressing: 
2/3 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon dried mustard 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or distilled white wine vinegar 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
1/3 cup honey 
3 teaspoons grated white onion 
1 cup vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon poppy seeds 

For the salad: 
Prepared chicken 
1 large green bell pepper 
1 bunch small green onions 
Black pepper, to taste 
1-1 1/2 cups prepared poppy seed dressing

To prepare the chicken:

 In a large pot, barely cover chicken breasts, parsley and celery with chicken stock or with canned broth and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes or more, until chicken is very tender. Let chicken sit in stock for about 15 minute. Remove breasts and let cool. Trim fat and cartilage from the cooled chicken. Chop chicken into 1/2-inch cubes. See note below.

To prepare dressing:

In a small bowl, stir together sugar, dry mustard and salt. In another bowl, blend together vinegar, lemon juice, honey and onion with a wire whisk. Then whisk the two mixtures together until well blended. Put blended mixture into food processor and mix at high speed for 1-2 minutes. With blade still in motion on high, pour oil in thin, steady stream into processor. Stop when all the oil is added. Transfer dressing to container and stir in poppy seeds.

To prepare the salad: 

Remove ribs from the bell pepper and chop into small to medium pieces. Trim green onions and cut roots and top into small slices across the grain with scissors. In a large bowl, toss peppers, onions and chicken. Add poppy seed dressing and mix thoroughly until salad is wet throughout but not soupy. Add black pepper, to taste.

Note: Do not put chicken in food processor.

Greek Chicken Salad.

Greek Chicken Salad

4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed 

6 ounces crumbled feta cheese 

1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley 

1⁄4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced 

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped

1⁄2 cup plain yogurt 

1⁄2 cup mayonnaise 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

2 teaspoons minced garlic 

Greek seasoning to taste (I use a generous sprinkling or two of Cavender’s)

In a large salad bowl combine chick- en, feta, parsley, olives and cucumber. In a separate bowl mix together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic and Greek seasoning and stir to combine.

Pour dressing over chicken mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Southern Foodways Alliance.

I was following up on a mention of a cookbook coming later this year from the Southern Foodways Alliance and ran across their online "cookbooklets" on specific topics. The stories & recipes are excellent, and will provide fans of each topic much pleasure while experimenting with them all. Here they are...... the BLT, Deviled Eggs, & Pimento Cheese.