Helen Corbitt's Chicken Salad

Do you love crisp sweet grapes?  How about crunchy celery and toasted pecans?  Well team them up with tender cooked chicken breast and it might be my all time favorite chicken salad.  The addition of whipped cream lightens the dressing then pass a fork for the final taste for seasoning. 

The recipe as I first saw it was from SAVEUR but as always I made a change or two to my families liking as I am sure you will too.  I prefer to cook the chicken breasts by seasoning them well, preheating the oven to 400 degrees F,  slathering a bit of olive oil on a half sheet pan and then after placing the chicken on the pan drizzling a bit more oil on them.  Usually about an hour is the right amount of time required unless they are small. (Note: I am usually cooking 6 large at a time so fewer or smaller would cut the time down a lot.)  When their juices run clear they are done.  Cool and remove any skin and/or bone if necessary.

Ingredients List for Helen Corbitt's Chicken Salad:

2 pounds of cooked chicken breasts torn into bite size bits
2 C. mayonnaise
2 C. thinly sliced celery
2 C. halved seedless purple grapes
1 C. whole pecans toasted
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 t. kosher salt or more to taste
1/2 t. black pepper
1 C. whipped cream


Fold all of the above ingredients together to mix thoroughly.   Yield about 12 cups.

Serving suggestions:   We like a fruit plate with a scoop of chicken salad for a lunch or light supper.  It is especially good along side nectarines.

But tonight I an serving this with fresh homemade Cream of Tomato  Soup made with fresh tomatoes and Basil from our garden.  The soup recipe was posted here on 8/11/11 titled Cream of Tomato Soup.