pear & pepper chicken salad.

oh my goodness, i love this chicken salad.

have i mentioned my embarrassing affinity for chicken salad since moving to the south??  i eat it far more than i would like to admit to you.  urban has some really good traditional chicken salad with cranberries & pecans & mayo.  & then i learned about avocado & cilantro, no-mayo chicken salad from pinterest.  & then i discovered pear & pepper, no-mayo chicken salad.  from pinterest.  of course.

last night was my second time to make it.  which, obviously, means i have strayed a bit from the original recipe.  but this is the one i'm going to stick with.  it's my fall version of chicken salad.  i look forward to having it again & again & again.  luckily for me, blakey likes it too!

pear & pepper chicken salad.

originally from: farmhouse table.

5-6 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped

1 T evoo

1 T minced garlic

1 yellow onion, sliced

6 cute little sweet peppers, sliced

2 pears, sliced

6 green onions + scallions, sliced

2 T rosemary, chopped

1/4 c sunflower seeds + more for garnishing

1 lemon, just juice

1/4 c sherry vinegar

2 more T evoo

3 T stone ground mustard

salt & pepper

serve with lots of arugula

1. cook your chicken breasts in your favorite way.  i usually go with cutting them up a bit.  throwing them in a dutch oven.  covering them with half italian dressing & half water.  cooking them, covered, at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.  perfect every time.

2. meanwhile, heat 1T of evoo in a skillet over medium heat.  add the garlic, onion, & sweet peppers.  saute until the onions are soft & just begin to carmelize, about, oh, 10 minutes.  allow them to cool a bit.

3. toss the cooked chicken, cooked onion & pepper mixture, pears, green onions, rosemary, & seasame seeds in a bowl.  sprinkle the lemon juice, sherry vinegar, evoo, & mustard on top.  add a good portion of salt & pepper.  stir stir stir.

4. taste!  is it amazing??  i thought so.  if not, play around a bit with the vinegar & mustard & salt.  these are just suggestions, after all.  i certainly did no measuring.

5. serve on top of a big plate of arugula.  i freakin love arugula.  it is seriously the most flavorful & textured green i know.  & it goes splendidly with this autumn chicken salad.

did i mention how excited i am that it is almost fall??  ahhhh, fall...

by the way, my computer finally died.  the hard drive decided it was no more.  don't feel too badly for me - i bought the apple desktop in 2006.  it was a trusty computer.  but it was time.  i will get around to buying a new macbook sometime soon.  any extra apple giftcards lying around?  send them my way!  all that to say, blog posts might be a bit more sporadic until i do.

love love,
kjp.