Winter Chicken Salad With Chipotle Cream Dressing

Elly in Canada's Note:

An adopted recipe originally posted by Mean Chef. When you've got leftover chicken on hand, Winter Chicken Salad With Chipotle Cream Dressing will warm you up in a hurry. You can adjust the fire power according to your own taste, using as much chipotle puree as your household will appreciate. Toss crunchy bok choy with slivers of ruffled red cabbage, spicy cilantro, shredded sweet carrots and fresh green onions. Top it off with Chipotle Cream Dressing, which also tastes fabulous on grilled chicken or fish. This fabulous yet easy-to-make sauce is based on tinned chipotles (smoked jalapeno peppers), which you puree and add judiciously. The remainder will keep a long, long, time in the refrigerator, so you can spoon a little into marinades, soups, stews, sauces and salad dressings.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

SALAD

• 2 cups bok choy, shredded
• 1 cup red cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 cup sweet carrot, shredded
• 1/4 cup cilantro, stemmed
• 1 ripe apple, chopped
• 6 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, stemmed
• 2 cups cooked chicken, in bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons parsley, stemmed

CHIPOTLE CREAM DRESSING

• 2 tablespoons chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1 cup creme fraiche (non-fat works fine) or 1 cup heavy cream (non-fat works fine) or 1 cup sour cream (non-fat works fine)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients but parsley.
2. Toss gently, drizzle with Chipotle Cream Dressing (see below), and serve, garnished with parsley.
3. Dressing:In a blender or food processor, puree chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
4. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons (to taste) of the puree to the crème fraîche, heavy cream or sour cream and stir well.
5. Stir in garlic, salt, and pumpkin seeds.

Reviews

[Sweet Baboo]

WOW...a salad that can be made a day ahead! I didn't expect that it would be so good, and so crunchy the next day, but the leftovers were equally great. I over chipotled the dressing, so to reduce the flame I added some low fat mayo, and I think I will continue to do that because I like the taste.

[Deb in TX]

Interesting dish. I tripled the recipe since I was cooking for 12, and stewed the chicken (one whole chicken + 2 lbs of breasts) with onion, garlic and rosemary, reserving the broth for another meal. I substituted cabbage for the bok choy--not an exact substitute, but it turned out okay. I tossed the salad with about half the dressing, and left the other half of the dressing in a bowl to be added to individual taste. It was good, but oddly enough it tasted even better the 2nd night! Maybe the flavors needed more time to blend. Next time I'll make it a day ahead, something I wouldn't normally do with a salad.

[ElleFirebrand]

The cilantro and chipotle really overpowered this. I don't think I will make again.