Almond Tarragon Chicken Salad

It seems like a long name to describe chicken salad that only has 4 ingredients, but this chicken salad packs a powerful punch!  I started buying this chicken salad (of the same name) from Publix in their deli section a few weeks ago and I got hooked on it.  It's super simple, but really delicious!  After my fourth container of chicken salad in 2 weeks, I decided that I am paying too much for this stuff.  We buy rotisserie chicken at least once a week in my house, so I should be able to make this wonderful concoction myself!

After a detailed recipe search that listed the three most important ingredients, I find this wonderful recipe on www.food.com!  This woman was in the same dilemmas as I've found myself: In love with Publix Tarragon Chicken Salad!  Her solution is this simple recipe.  You can definitely add onto it if you desire, but it's perfect just the way it is.  I've been eating it with the  Vermont Honey Wheat Oatmeal Bread and I just love it!

Almond Tarragon Chicken Salad (original recipe on food.com)

Ingredients:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked chopped and cooled
1/2 cup mayonnaise (if salad is too dry you can add more)
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a tupperware bowl so you can store the leftovers (if you don't eat it all in one sitting).

Cover and chill for a few hours.  You can serve this on bread, rolls, or even with crackers.  Alain ate this with sliced apples today (as pictured above) and it was really tasty!  

NOTE: If you use a whole or half rotisserie chicken, just adjust measurements to taste.  I think I used half a rotisserie chicken today to make this and I used and extra 1/4 cup of mayo and sliced almonds and 1/2 tsp. extra of tarragon.

Enjoy!

Vermont Honey Wheat Oatmeal Bread

The smell of bread rising and baking in my kitchen is so comforting to me!  While browsing the web, I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website.  I love their flour and they have a wonderful database of great recipes.  They also make a good gluten-free flour mix from what I've heard from my GF friends.  This is actually an oatmeal bread (one of my personal favorites), so I couldn't resist trying it this past weekend!  I made one loaf in the bread pan and one round loaf because I didn't have another bread pan of the right size.  The round one was good, but burned a bit on the bottom, but the bread in the loaf pan was amazing and it really made the best sandwich bread!

This bread tastes so amazing with a little bit of marionberry jam from Oregon (thanks to my BIL and SIL who provide us with our stock whenever we get a chance to visit).  I'm told the Marionberries are grown in the Pacific Northwest and that they are similar to blackberries, but much larger.  I think I will be making another 2 loaves tomorrow because I've got to have more of this stuff!  :)

Vermont Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour - original recipe)

Ingredients:
2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (or maple sugar if available)
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon Saigon-type cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 1/2 cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, maple sugar, honey, butter, salt and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm.

Add the yeast and flours, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 5 to 7 minutes by machine) until the dough is smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour.

Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in two greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch bread pans. Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow the loaves to rise till they've crowned about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.

Bake the loaves in a preheated 360°F oven for 33 minutes.* Remove them from the oven when they're golden brown, and the interior registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Yield: 2 sandwich loaves.