Apple and Tarragon Chicken Salad

Apple and Tarragon Chicken Salad is one of my favorite uses for leftover roast chicken. I roast a chicken every few weeks, it makes a satisfying dinner one night and the leftover breast meat gets tossed into pastas, salads, and enchiladas. Chicken salad makes a excellent lunch option, and even an easy dinner option when the weather gets too warm to cook. Apples, pecans, and fresh tarragon give this chicken salad enough pizzazz to entertain with, but its easy enough to create for lunch any day of the week.

 

Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt creates the binder, so no mayonnaise is needed. Substituting Greek yogurt also adds extra protein (27g per serving) and keeps the fat content low (9g per serving). Most of the fat comes from the pecans, omit them and you bring the fat down to only 2g per serving. Pecans aren't your thing? You can use almonds, walnuts, or omit the nuts completely.

 

Beet and Blueberry Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette

When I think about food, I think of flavor pairings. My recipes can start with one or two ingredients that I want to highlight, and then branch out with complementary or contrasting flavors. I first made this Beet and Blueberry Salad for Mother's Day brunch, and wanted to share the recipe with you. My original Mother's Day salad had beets straight from my garden, but I picked up beautiful baby beets from First Generation Farmers on my farmer's market run yesterday.

The dressing was a happy accident based on what I had in my fridge. I knew that dill and lemon would pair well with the beets (think borsht) as well as add a nice brightness and acidity to the salad. I rounded out the dressing with a bit of local honey and coarse grain mustard. If you like a sweeter dressing use more honey and less mustard, but I liked the tanginess of it because of the sweetness of the beets and blueberries.

Roasting the beets is as easy as tossing them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasting at 425 F for 30 to 40 minutes. When they are fork-tender, I place them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam as they cool. The skins peel right off (I wear gloves when I do this to prevent red fingers) and they are ready to use or store in your refrigerator for up to 5 days.