Spicy Chicken Salad with Hot Giardiniera
Hot giardiniera gives this summery Spicy Chicken Salad a little heat and big flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken, skin removed (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 cup drained hot giardiniera from jar, chopped
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise (or light mayo)
- 1/4 cup packed chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon giardiniera juices
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, if needed
Instructions
- The recipe calls for diced chicken. I cut it up into chunkier pieces than the standard dice, especially good if you don't plan to make sandwiches with it. The giardiniera, conversely, comes chunkier than you need it for this dish---chop it into a rough dice.
- Combine chicken and next 4 ingredients in medium bowl. I didn't have fresh basil, so I substituted chopped fresh parsley. Stir to blend well.
- TASTE FIRST, then season salad with salt and freshly ground pepper. The giardiniera probably adds plenty of salt, and its vinegary tang further lessens the need for additional salt. I added no salt to my latest batch. Serve.
Kitchen Notes
Chicken. I used a store bought rotisserie chicken this time. Often I'll roast extra chicken thighs when I'm making some for dinner to use later in this dish. You can also sauté thighs or breasts [or both] specifically for this dish and just chill them in the fridge.
More about giardiniera. If you have a choice in your store bought search, go for giardiniera that uses a mix of vinegar and water for the liquid, not one that includes olive oil. You'll get fewer calories and a brighter taste. If you have leftovers, it keeps for a really long time in the fridge. Chances are, you'll like this salad well enough that you'll use it up making more. One use we plan to make of it is topping a store bought frozen pizza some hectic night.