Whats your best guess of what's in it?

I copy one from my favorite rosy chicken salad sandwich at a little on-site restaurant at a nursery on Bainbridge Island that I love, too far to enjoy it there often.

I use chopped roasted chicken although a poached/simmered breast will work too if that's all time allows. Chopped red onion, walnuts, dried currants, diced celery. Usually served in a pita with lettuce but any nice bread or roll will do.

What I don't know for sure, what their dressing is. It's creamy, moist, holds the rest together well. It might be mayo based, or a combination of sour cream, mayo - and what I've been using is just sour cream alone, a tip borrowed from a Martha Steward chicken salad recipe. Everyone seems to enjoy it

What is unique about this chicken salad? Can you detect any special ingredients?

I like to add manderine oranges or grape halves to chicken salad, along with toasted slivered almonds or pecan pieces.

I often use Old Bay Seasoning to flavor the salad.

Standby ingredients include chopped HB egg, sweet pickle relish, celery, chopped green onion, chopped bacon, S & P, and mayo.

How the chicken is cooked makes a huge difference! Charcoal grilled, sauteed in butter, poached, baked.....all methods impart a different flavor to the salad.

This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Sat, Jun 7, 14 at 14:44

I add grapes and toasted pecans to my basic recipe which includes hb egg, pickle relish , Hellman's mayo, and Penzey's sandwich sprinkle.

Great suggestions for ingredients! I did try to figure out what was in the sandwich .. but .. everything seems to be very *minced* which is kind of surprising because it would be so labor intensive for the restaurant.

I thought there might be grapes and some kind of nut .. and who knows what might have been in the mayo mixture ... maybe it was just straight mayo ...

I loved all your ingredient suggestions ... thanks so much!

We've loved curried chicken salad for years. You can go as light or heavy on the curry as you like....I like a very light touch. You can either put it in a sandwich or serve over lettuce.

2T lemon juice
2T soy sauce
1T curry powder...or to taste
1T finely grated onion
1T chutney
11/2 C chopped celery
16 oz can sliced water chestnuts
2 C grapes, halved
16 oz can pineapple tidbit
11/2-2 C mayo
5 1/2 oz pkg sliced almonds
1/2 stick melted butter or margarine
3 C chicken

Mix all ingredients except almonds and butter and refrigerate overnight. Mix in almonds and butter before serving.

This is the version we use if we are serving it salad style over lettuce. For sandwiches we do a quick and dirty version not worrying about the lemon juice, soy sauce, chutney, butter, water chestnuts, etc and mix mayo and curry with what we have on hand...sometimes raisins instead of grapes, etc...whatever appeals to you.

I've served it salad style with rolls for summer luncheons.

I use Mrs. Dashes original for seasoning.

The last two times I made chicken salad I used dried cranberries, chopped celery, sliced almonds, mayo, and some dijon mustard -- I really liked that combo!

I make two kinds, one for sandwiches and one for serving on top of a lettuce leaf. For the sandwich type, I very finely mince a little bit of green pepper and onion and more celery. Add mayo.

For the salad on lettuce, I chop almost any of the ingredients mentioned in the above posts. My favorite is green grapes, mandarin oranges, a teeny bit on onion, celery and lots of toasted chopped pecans. Toss with mayo.

Herbs such as dill, tarragon or curry are all good additions (one at a time). You might ask at the restaurant--they just may tell you!

Like Patti, I make two kinds. One for sandwiches (chicken, onion, celery and mayo) and all other versions (grapes, curry cranberries, etc.) for just plain salad. However, I have made the following wraps, and they are really good:

Lemon roasted chicken salad wraps

1 6 lb. whole fryer
E.V.O.O.
salt and pepper
5 sprigs thyme
1 lemon quartered
5 cloves garlic

Salad:

3/4 C. Greek yogurt
1/4 c. mayo
2 T. Dijon mustard
1/2 C. toasted walnuts, chopped
1/4 C. dried cranberries, chopped
2 celery ribs, diced
1 small red onion, minced
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 T. fresh tarragon, chopped
S & P
4 12" whole wheat tortillas
1 pint broccoli sprouts *
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced

For the chicken:

Preheat oven 400. Adjust rack to middle. Place chicken on rack in roasting pan, breast side down. Stuff with lemon, garlic and thyme. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for one hour, increase temp to 450 and roast until breast temp reaches 160 f, and skin is golden brownâ¦.30 - 45 min. more. Set chicken aside to cool. When able to handle, remove, legs, wings and dark meatâ¦set aside for nibbling or future use. Shred breast meat and place in bowl. Season with S & P. Mix together yogurt, mayo, mustard, walnuts, cranberries, celery, onions, lemon zest and lemon juice, tarragon and water chestnuts. Adjust seasoning to taste. Fold in chicken.

For sandwich:

Layer whole wheat wrap with broccoli sprouts and tomato slices. Top with chicken salad and wrap. Enjoy!

*If you can't find broccoli sprouts, alfalfa sprouts will do.

I'm roasting my chicken as I type this!

This post was edited by georgysmom on Sun, Jun 8, 14 at 20:08

All those recipes sound delish!

Whatever combination of ingredients you use, I think, as someone said above, that dill and/or tarragon really add wonderfulness.

Years ago there was a restaurant called Andrew's, just north of downtown Dallas, that had the most wonderful tarragon chidken salad.

Any time anybody asked me where I wanted to go for dinner, we went to Andrew's!

Adding a little tarragon makes any chicken salad taste better. I prefer mine without fruit or nuts though.

When possible..I like to do chicken pieces on the grill-to get that flavor for in my salad. Once deboned & cut into small pieces, I add the usual-finely chopped onion (Vidalia), real thin slices of celery, hard boiled eggs, a sprinkling of curry powder, salt & pepper. I then squeeze the juice of 1 fresh cut lemon and grated lemon peel. Gently mix w/your hands. I chill this for an hour to give the lemon rind time to be absorbed into the chicken..(delish!) In a separate bowl, I put mayo, Dijon mustard (1/3 the amount of your mayo), and a 1/2 tsp. of sugar. Gently fold it into the chicken. I then add seedless purple grapes-sliced in half. IF using all of the salad at one time? I also add thinly sliced apples pieces..about 1/2 cup. This is also great served in a fresh garden tomato stuffed w/the salad., on a lettuce bed.