Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette Chicken Salad
Hi, my name is Jessica and I have a confession to make.
Despite the name of this blog being Cooking is My Sport…I don’t always love to cook. Sometimes it’s the very last thing I want to do. I mean, the LAST. I envision putting on my baggy round the house clothes, pulling out pots/pans and standing in the kitchen for a while cooking–and I’ll just say to myself, “Yeah, nope. It’s not gonna happen today.”
And you know what? That’s okay. When those times arise, (and they will for everyone) there are a few different alternatives I will take to cooking a super ‘hands on’, full effort, time consuming meal:
First, I’ll order takeout–usually a pizza. Do I really need to do much explaining for this one? I mean, sometimes carb-heavy, greasy, sodium overload food is just what your body is craving. Life is short and if I don’t feel like cooking, pizza is a tried and true fail safe.
Second, I’ll eat cereal and milk. It’s quick, it’s not overly filling and so long as you pick cereals that aren’t loaded with sugar, it’s not the unhealthiest option either. (Honey Bunches of Oats and Hney Nut Cheerios is my winning combination in case you were curious).
Third, I’ll just pick up a rotisserie chicken.
Let me just say this right now: rotisserie chicken slander will not be tolerated on this here blog. I stan for rotisserie chicken and all the things that can be done with it. They’re awesome. They’re a pretty inexpensive buy whether you buy them fresh and cook them yourself, or pick a premade one up from your local grocery store deli. If the seasoning is done right by the deli, they usually taste pretty good on their own, but even if their bland on their own, it’s EXTREMELY easy to take the chicken off the carcass and give it a flavorific makeover within minutes.
I don’t like most chicken salad recipes because they’re mayonnaise based; mayonnaise triggers my gag reflex. So, I tend to stay away. However, a little while ago I started experimenting with different ways to make the dressings for chicken salad, swapping out the mayonnaise entirely for other options, like this recipe where I used a base of Greek yogurt instead). This time around, I decided to go for a spin on chicken salad that was made with a vinaigrette dressing rather than a creamy one.
I started out this post by saying I don’t always feel like cooking, and this recipe stays true to that. Literally the only thing that gets ‘cooked’ is garlic heads that are roasted in the oven. ‘Why do we roast garlic?’, you may ask. It cuts through the sharp flavor of raw garlic and improves it, giving a sweeter, richer flavor that really can’t be beat. You’ll be thanking me for this little trick and be using it in all kinds of dishes in the future.
Once the garlic is roasted, you really are practically done. From there, you just mix the rest of the dressing ingredients together in a blender, then pour it over the chicken and vegetables that make up your salad. I used roasted red peppers, cucumbers and onions (the usual suspects in my salads). There’s also a generous portion of chopped parsley leaves in there, which give it a zesty, peppery flavor.
I have to say, the dressing is the star here. The roasted garlic gives it a savory and almost caramelized flavor that’s gets balanced out with the remaining ingredients; acidity with the vinegar and honey mustard, and sweetness from the honey and OJ. Even if your rotisserie chicken isn’t seasoned right, this will spruce it right up. It tastes SO fresh and bright. It’s satisfying, but still light enough to where you won’t feel too full afterwards. This may have been a bare minimum effort meal, but we gobbled it up–I’ve already been asked to make it again. It’s really good and I think you ought to give it a shot on a non-cooking night when takeout or cereal isn’t tickling your fancy. Linking this post up to Fiesta Friday #219, co-hosted this week by the lovely Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook.
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Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette Chicken Salad
Recipe Adapted from The Kitchn
Ingredients
For Dressing
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 tablespoons vinegar (I used malt vinegar, but you can feel free to use red wine, white wine or balsamic, according to your preference)
- 2 teaspoons honey mustard
- Juice of 1 freshly squeezed orange
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 cup olive oil
For Salad
- 1 rotisserie chicken, deboned (It should yield 2 1/2-3 cups of shredded chicken)
- 1/2 cup baby cucumbers, chopped and sliced in half
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, sliced
- 1/2 cup yellow sweet onion, finely diced
- Handful of chopped parsley leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub about 1 teaspoon of vegetable or canola oil on top of garlic head. Sprinkle the top with salt & pepper and place in the middle of a piece of aluminum foil. Wrap the foil around the garlic, like a package. Place on a half sheet pan and bake in the oven for about 50-55 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool until warm enough to handle. Take the roasted garlic head and break off individual cloves. Use your fingers to press/squeeze out the pulp into the container of a blender/food processor with the veggies. (It should come out very easily).
Pour the vinegar, honey mustard, orange juice, honey, olive oil and salt and pepper in the blender with the garlic. Process on high until smooth—taste and adjust for seasoning. If it’s still a little thick you can add a few tablespoons of water to thin it out.
Combine the chicken, cucumbers, red peppers, onion and parsley together in a large bowl. Slowly drizzle in about half of the dressing and stir thoroughly to combine. Taste it—if it’s to your satisfaction, you can leave off the rest of the dressing and save it for later, or you can add and stir it into the rest of the salad mixture.
Cover the chicken salad and refrigerate for at least a few hours, but preferably overnight to allow flavors to meld.
Ha! What a great dish! Greetinga
Mayonnaise triggers my gag reflex as well, so this sounds like a fantastic alternative to traditional chicken salad. I’ll have to give it a try.
Yes, please do! I think you’ll like it–thanks 🙂
I was expecting a bread from you, lol. But that doesn’t mean I won’t devour this delicious salad! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party!
Bread is coming again next week lol 😉 Thanks Jhuls!
I will wait!😂
Nothing wrong with some easy going dinners – and this one sounds delicious! 😊 I’ll have to give the dressing a go, I love roasted garlic!
Roasted garlic in salad dressing is something that until now I didn’t even know I needed in my life until now–it’s SO good. Thank you 🙂
Great salad, Jess! I love roasted garlic and always have to make an extra head or two! I might even have a post coming up…we’ll see.Anyway, there are worse things in the world than rotisserie chicken but it does seem to strike up quite a controversy sometimes, lol!!
Happy FF Jess!