Three Pea Chicken Salad

I found this spring time Three Pea Chicken Salad recipe in Bon Appetit magazine, April 2012, also found here. This chicken salad caught my eye because I adore sugar snap peas (I eat them out of the bag). I have seen many recipes using yogurt/Greek yogurt as a substitute for mayo and I was really interested in tasting/texture changes. And finally, I've never poached chicken and this was going to either be great or an epic disaster.

Thankfully this came out great! I think it tasted even better the next day. Of course, I made some changes in the recipe due to my budget and ingredient availability. 

Dried tarragon for fresh, Lemon flavor Greek yogurt instead of plain and that also takes care of the lemon juice/zest part of the recipe as well. I used one shallot. Chives were forgotten at the grocery store. I omitted snow peas since I couldn't find them.

And so begins our adventure, poaching chicken. (The recipe said you can substitute rotisserie chicken but I had some frozen chicken breast already instead of buying one). I put half the shallot, garlic, and tarragon in the frying pan. Added chicken (cut in half or quarters so it would fit in the pan). Covered in water. Covered pan. Set to boil. Once it started to boil I took it off the burner and let it sit for another 25 minutes. I think it took longer for mine because my chicken was still frozen in the middle... oops. Very easy. Once the chicken is done cooking take it out of the pan and cut it into whatever size pieces you like. Small dice, shredded, chunky dice... its your call. I think I would shred it into bite size chunks next time. Let the chicken cool before mixing it into the dressing.

Meanwhile, I sliced the de-stringed sugar snap peas. My knife skills aren't very delicate so I cut them on a diagonal into pretty bright green bites. I poured the frozen peas into a bowl and combined them with the snap peas.

Dressing: chop the shallot and the garlic very fine or you'll end up with some harsh bites in the salad. With a whisk or fork combine oil and yogurt. Next mix in the rest of the shallot, rest of the garlic garlic, some salt & pepper, the rest of the tarragon, and some parsley. Stir it together until its all mixed in. 

Then I added the peas and cooled chicken to the dressing. Put into my lunch containers and added some chopped walnuts to the top.

I ate it out of the bowl with a piece of bread on the side to nosh on.

My thoughts? Yum! Fresh! Light! Pretty healthy too. I let a couple friends at work try a bite and they asked for the recipe and said it was very tasty. This would be great for a nice luncheon and be pretty easy to make in a large batch. The most time consuming part was cutting the peas, but if you want to take short cuts get the de-stringed ones and that should help reduce the time by quite a bit.

The recipe says it makes 4 servings, I had 3 big servings because that was going to be my full lunch without any sides.

Spring Chicken Salad

Time: 30 Min

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients

2 tsp dried tarragon

1 lg shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, 1 smashed, 1 minced

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast (2 chicken breast)

salt & pepper

6 oz container lemon Greek yogurt

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lb sugar snap peas

1 c frozen peas

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Place 1/2 tarragon, 1/2 shallot, smashed garlic, and chicken into frying pan. Add water to cover by 1 inch or as much as you can. Season with salt and pepper. Bring water to a boil. Remove pan from heat, keep covered. Let stand until chicken is cooked. 15-25 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and let cool. Shred or dice chicken.

Whisk yogurt, oil, remaining shallot, garlic, and tarragon, and parsley in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Combine with peas and chicken.

Option: Serve open face sandwiches over toasted bread and/or lettuce.

Enjoy!!!

Pasta, Leeks, Peas, and Lemon

I found this recipe in Martha Stewart Living, April 2012. This a great light tasting dish that can be prepared in less than a half hour.

What is a leek? A leek is a type of onion. Similar to a scallion that has many layers and that you have to peel. You need to wash leeks carefully, there can be a lot of dirt stuck between the leaves. To wash them I sliced the bottom of the stalk off (like celery) and then peeled all the layers. I washed each piece then cut them into small slices.

Snow peas. Are. Amazing. Crisp and crunchy and sweet, they are probably one of my favorite veggies. They are very versatile and are a great addition to salads and pasta dishes. Peas can be blanched (cooked in a boiling water for 2 minutes), raw, or stir fried. I generally nosh on them raw.

Egg noodles are pasta but it has a little bit of a different texture. Most times they are flat and similar to a fettuccine or linguine, just short. If you don't have egg noodles on hand regular pasta would work just fine.

Leeks in the pan

I melted some butter over med heat in a big frying pan, when it was melted I tossed the sliced leeks into it. I continued to stir them around to ensure the cooked and didn't start to brown. The recipe calls for lemon zest. I didn't have any lemons on hand so I put in 1/4 tsp of lemon extract. (I have made this with lemon and without lemon, I think the lemon was nice but its not necessary if you don't have it on hand). This took about 5-6 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Meanwhile I started to boil some water in a medium size pot. When the water was boiling I blanched the snow peas for about 2 minutes. I tossed the peas into the frying pan with the leeks and then put the egg noodles into the boiling water. The noodles only took about 5 minutes to cook. I strained the noodles out of the water and into the frying pan with the snow peas and leeks. You want to save the pasta water for when add the ricotta cheese. This combination creates a sauce for the veggies and pasta.

I omitted the Pecorino Romano cheese because I don't care for too much cheese. I think next time I make this I would include dice chicken or grilled chicken.You can also sub for whatever fresh veggies you have on hand (e.g. asparagus or broccoli) and onion or scallion for onions. This will change the cooking times though, so be aware. :)

Snow peas and leeks in the pan

Also, If making this for 4 people and this is the main dish without any other sides, I would use the whole pound of pasta.

Egg noodles, Leeks, Snow peas, and Lemon

Serves approx 4  

• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 medium leeks (white and pale-green parts only), cut into thin half-moons and rinsed well
• 2 lemons
• 1/2 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise (optional)
• 3/4 pound dried pappardelle or other flat egg noodles
• 1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese
• 2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (3/4 cup)

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. 
2. Melt butter in big frying pan over med heat. Add leeks and some salt to the frying pan. Cook until leeks are soft and begin to become soft and tender (7-9 minutes). Remove from heat. Add the lemon zest (or lemon extract) to the leeks with some pepper.
3. When the water is boiling add the peas to the water and blanch about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate or into the frying pan.
4. In the water the peas just blanched in add the pasta and cook until al dente (4-5 minutes). Don’t drain the water but add pasta to the frying pan. If you haven’t added the peas to the frying pan do this now. Stir in pasta water ½ cup at a time and alternate with the ricotta and cheese until the pasta is covered in the creamy sauce.

Enjoy!