Tarragon Chicken Salad

This chicken salad was served at my wedding almost 7 years ago. The last 7 years have really flown by. They say that if a couple has been married for 7 years that their chances of staying together increases dramatically. I hope that is true for me and Greg. We have had a lot of ups and downs in our years of marriage, but I feel that we are always moving forward and for the most part, improving our lives together.

Last weekend Greg's parents, aunt, and uncle came into town for a short visit. The men were in charge of communicating and making the plans, and if you know men, you know that they are not good communicators and not great planners. I had planned on making everyone lunch on Sunday, but on Saturday afternoon I found out that the group wouldn't be able to do lunch.  I had already bought tons of croissants and other ingredients for chicken salad sandwiches, so I decided to make the chicken salad anyways. I chose to make the tarragon chicken salad because it looked easy and because I remembered how much I had liked it on my wedding day. It is hard to believe I haven't had it since then! This recipe is great to make for a crowd (or to make so you have lunch for a week straight - like we did) and you can serve it over lettuce or in a sandwich. We love it on croissants with some romaine lettuce. Enjoy! 

Recipe for Tarragon Chicken Salad

INGREDIENTS:
3 pounds of boneless chicken breasts

1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt (or sour cream)
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
3 stalks of celery, diced
2/3 cup of walnut pieces
1 Tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. of dried tarragon leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken breasts into a casserole dish in a single layer and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Pour the cream over the chicken. Put the casserole dish into the oven and cook for 30 - 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (cuts easily, no pinkness in the middle, internal temperature registers to 165 degrees on instant digital meat thermometer). Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to cool.

Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and place into a large bowl. Mix together the Greek Yogurt (or sour cream) and mayonnaise in a small bowl and add into the chicken. Mix well with a fork. Add in the diced celery, walnuts, and tarragon. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Taste, and add in more tarragon, salt, and/or pepper, as desired.

Serve over lettuce, or make it into sandwiches. We love this chicken salad on croissants with a few leaves of romaine lettuce.

Recipe makes approximately 8 - 12 servings. 

Recipe from the Silver Palate Cookbook