Chicken Salad

Now my mom used to love serving her Chicken Salad on anything but bread! She would stuff these in a cored tomato, a mini sized bread bowl she'd make, but my favorite was wrapping it up on a big slice of ice cold lettuce. Crunch! A lot of people don't understand what a shallot is. Its part of the onion family. A perfect choice when a recipe calls for onions and your not a particular fan of onions. This little guy is sweet and has a little spiciness to it. Its not however, that strong onion your mom typically works with. Yellow Vidalia onions are another less pungent and strong tasting onion. I say with all recipes, if there is something you don't like that the recipe calls for? ie: Carrots, onions, garlic.... then put them in quartered so your able to pull them out prior to eating. The reason for these isn't just to eat.. they allow flavor to the broths or juices that your creating. Carrots especially lend a natural sweetness to your dish. Im not a overly huge fan of garlic in large quantities. I give one a good hard whack with the back of a knife and then toss it in. Then remove it before we eat.

Anyways... let's get ta cookin!

• 1 cooked chicken, skinless and meat shredded or diced (rotisserie if your in a time crunch)
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1 shallot, chopped 
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 cup pine nuts
• 2 T chopped fresh  tarragon leaves or 1 tsp parsley
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip (Our choice) (My mom loved her chicken salad wet. I perfer mine a tad bit on the dry side. So I make this just the way it says and then add a little at a time to the chicken and vegi's until I get it the way I like it)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
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Ready for the hard part???????

Mix the chicken red onion shallot celery nuts in a large bowl and toss. Mix mayonnaise vinegar salt and pepper and then I mix small amounts into the chicken salad until I get the right wetness I like. Sprinkle in tarragon and mix Spoon into your favorite bread, cored tomato or put on a slice of cold lettuce.