Chicken Salad

Drescription

A few years ago, Toby Cecchini published a tuna salad recipe in the New York Times that was unlike any I'd seen before. Divorced of mayonnaise, the tuna was left in large slivers, dressed with lemon and oil, and mixed with pepperoncini, dill, parsley and smoked almonds. There wasn't a scrap of celery in sight. The tuna held its own between lashings of pepper and flourishes of dill, and seemed like so much more than just tuna salad.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• salt
• 4 cup cubed roasted chicken (i like to include some of the crisp skin)
• 3 tablespoon slivered peppadew peppers
• 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts (drained thoroughly)
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped smoked almonds
• 2 teaspoon chopped thyme
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard, plus more to taste
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• lemon juice, to taste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Sprinkle the onion with salt and toss to coat. Let sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze the onions to drain any juices.
2. In a bowl, toss together the onion, chicken, peppadews, artichoke hearts and almonds. In a small bowl, whisk together the thyme, mustard and vinegar. Gradually whisk in the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the chicken and fold together. Squeeze in lemon juice to taste -- it will take a fair amount, probably 1/2 to 1 lemon. Let sit for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve.