The ultimate, kid-friendly chicken salad recipe, excerpted from Sarah Leah Chase’s New England Open-House Cookbook.
Buy the Book
Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Workman

I am one who believes you can never have too many chicken salad recipes, as long as they are all excellent. Mention the word “picnic” and chicken salad is the first thing that pops into my mind. When I had my Que Sera Sarah take-out food shop on Nantucket, the store’s signature chicken and grape salad was always in demand. My son, Oliver, was happy eating it for years until he discovered he liked chicken salad sandwiches with potato chips crushed on top of the salad

Grapes and potato chips don’t go together particularly well, so I came up with this straightforward, kid-friendly chicken salad and must admit I really like it, too, especially when embellished with those crushed potato chips and sandwiched between superfresh slices of very fresh white bread from a good local bakery. I don’t put green peppers in many recipes I make, but I do feel they work well in this one without being overpowering. Omit them if you wish.

Chicken Salad 101

Makes enough for 4 sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1½ to 2 pounds)
• 2 thin ribs celery, cut into ¼-inch dice
• ½ cup diced green bell pepper or green Italian frying pepper (⅛-inch dice)
• 3 scallions, both white and tender green parts, trimmed and minced
• ½ to ⅔ cup mayonnaise, Hellmann’s or homemade
• 2 tablespoons light or heavy (whipping) cream
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 very fresh sandwich-size slices white bread
• Crushed potato chips, preferably Cape Cod Potato Chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the chicken breasts in a medium-size, straight-sided skillet. Add enough cold water to cover the chicken breasts amply. Let come to a full boil over medium-high heat then, cover the skillet and remove it from the heat. Let the skillet stand, covered, for 30 minutes to let the residual heat finish cooking the chicken. Drain the chicken breasts.
2. Cut the chicken breasts into ½-inch dice, removing any tough tendons as you chop. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl, add the celery, bell pepper, and scallions, and toss to mix. Add enough mayonnaise to bind the ingredients moistly together and then thin the salad slightly with the cream. Season the chicken salad with salt and black pepper to taste. The chicken salad can be refrigerated, covered, for 3 days.
3. To make the sandwiches, pile a ½-inch-thick layer of the chicken salad onto 4 of the slices of bread. If desired, coarsely crush 3 or 4 potato chips evenly over the filling on each sandwich. Top with the remaining 4 slices of bread and then slice the sandwiches in half on the diagonal. Enjoy at once or wrap for a later.