Mustard Chicken Salad

Every now and then I crave (like crazy) a cold and crunchysalad that is hearty and filling. Sometimes I get such a specific craving, like this day when I wanted THIS Mustard Chicken Salad made my Ina Garten.


Ingredients by Ina:
2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

I used her recipe as my guide and added my own touch here and there. Here is how I made this delicious salad!

I began by rinsing these chicken breasts in water and then patting them dry.

Next I took some leftover bacon and fried it up in a skillet.

Move the bacon over to a paper towel to drain - leave the bacon grease in the pan, we are going to cook the chicken in that very same pan.

Saute chicken on both sides until cooked through.

Super simple, just season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat. Once they are cooked through, move them to a plate to rest while we prepare the dressing.

Start with the mayo.

Add mustard and wine.

Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together, set aside.

Next, I diced a shallot.

And added the shallots to the pan with the leftover bacon grease and chicken drippings.

Saute over medium heat until soft, then I added minced garlic.

Oh yeah, this is looking really good now.

I added a few tablespoons of wine to deglaze the pan and make a yummy sauce.

Here I'm toasting sesame seeds - this happens quickly so don't walk away from the pan.

The other important part of this salad is the broccoli that I plopped into boiling water, and then just a few minutes later, scoop them out and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

This gives you tender crisp broccoli every time!

In a large mixing bowl, I added two handfuls of baby spinach.

Then topped with the broccoli.

Here is all the goodness from the saute pan - shallots, garlic and wine.

I added half a cup of the dressing to the lovely wine and garlic sauce.

Whisk together to make a beautiful thin mustard dressing.

Pour that over your salad greens and broccoli.

Top with chicken pieces, parmesan slivers, toasted sesame seeds and crumbled bacon.

Isn't this the most photogenic salad you have ever seen?

The mustard dressing recipe by Ina makes a LOT of dressing by the way. It was fabulous though. The chicken and broccoli went so well with the shallots, wine and mustard. Mmmm good!