The ‘Colonel’s’ Chicken Salad

What’s in a name? Let me tell you. The name I am going to throw your way will either make perfect sense, or not … depends on what generation you fall into. I come from a time when KFC used to be known as Kentucky Fried Chicken and ‘Colonel Sanders’ was the front man for all of their marketing and advertising. That was a magical time in food television commercials. The leaders, IMO, were the ‘Colonel’ and McDonald’s. But, what do I know. It appealed to a kid, that’s for sure.

Occasionally we like an easy evening with regards to cooking and KFC is right around the corner from where we live. We can indulge in a guilty pleasure without having to do any cleaning. That’s not a bad evening if you ask me.

On July 3rd David picked up some KFC and there were two original recipe skin-on chicken breasts leftover from that evening that needed to be either eaten or transformed into something else. One of my favorite uses for leftover chicken is homemade chicken salad. I call this ‘The Colonel’s Chicken Salad’ because I use pretty much everything on the breast; meat, skin, and all of the tasty coating crumbles. There’s a lot of flavor so why waste it. That’s just the base. There’s a lot of freshness brought into the mix via fruits and veggies, and a smoky edge from chopped Smokehouse almonds.

Definitely let this sit for at least 2 hours, I advise overnight. The flavors need time to mingle and marry, you’ll be glad you waited. Serve it on your favorite bread with fresh lettuce, tomato, and pickle spear side, it’s quite scrumptious. Or put it on top of a great salad that has all of your favorite fixings, you can’t go wrong.

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The 'Colonel's' Chicken Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Cold Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 original recipe chicken breasts from KFC, chilled, small chop, with skin, and coating crumbles
  • 1 celery stalk, small chop
  • 1 large shallot, small chop
  • 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
  • ½ - 1 cup Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds, chopped
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled, small chop – toss with juice of half a lemon to keep from browning
  • 1 cup grapes, rinsed and halved
  • Additional juice of ½ a lemon
  • 2 tsp celery salt
  • Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine well.
  2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, more if possible, to let flavors marry. Best if it can sit overnight.