Tuna & Chicken Salad

This past week I made up boxed lunches for one of my clients. She had a series of luncheon meetings with her contractors and wanted something more interesting than the ordinary turkey or roast beef sandwiches she usually picked up. This was right up my alley.
Years ago, in my second foray into the food service business, I sold sandwiches on home-baked croissants and I had a couple of fillings that were popular with my customers back then. They had the advantage of being old standards -- and so familiar -- while offering a different take on those classics.
This business of reinventing old favorites and comfort foods has been gaining popularity among chefs and restaurants for a few years now.
This business of reinventing old favorites and comfort foods has been gaining popularity among chefs and restaurants for a few years now. As one would expect, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In the following two cases, as measuredby popularity with my customers, the recipes workedTuna Salad ParmesanServe stuffed in pita bread.
In my version, bell peppers provide a sharper vegetable flavor than the traditional celery, capers provide the briny taste but without the clutter of dill (or, even worse, the sweet pickle relish sometimes used), red onions provide a touch of sweetness along with heat, and the shredded parmesan brings a deeply savory flavor to the whole.
1 ea canned tuna in oil — 12 oz, drained
1/4 ea bell pepper — diced
1/4 ea red onion — diced
1/2 ea lemon — juiced
1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese
12 ea grape tomatoes — halved
3 tbsps capers — rinsed & drained
3 tbsps mayonnaise
salt to taste
Mix all ingredients together. Chill. Serve stuffed in pita with a lettuce leaf.
Curried Chicken Salad
This is seriously good stuff. Chicken is a marvelous base for all sorts of flavors the sweetness of the fruit highlights the curry flavor.
3 lbs chicken — whole, cut up
1 ea celery stalk — with leaves
1 ea carrot — cut up in 1" chunks
1 ea bay leaf
1 ea apple — large
3/4 c raisins
1/2 c coconut flakes
1/2 c scallions — cut into 1/2" pieces
3 tbsps mayonnaise
2 tbsp curry powder — hot
salt to taste
Cut up chicken and boil with celery, parsley, carrot, and bay over medium-high heat until cooked through, removing smaller pieces as they become done. Discard vegetables and strain and reserve stock for soup.
Skin and bone chicken cutting pieces into a half-inch dice.
Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Chill for at least four hours.
Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin d weeks | seriously good | sandwich | chicken salad | tuna salad
Labels: chicken, recipe, sandwich, tuna
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