I have to admit that I did some research before writing this post. I was curious as to whether the ‘Veronique’ in this salad was of Ina Garten’s choosing (whose recipe we followed in making this (and if so, after which Veronique was the dish named?)) or if this was a common dish. Apparently it’s the latter- or at least, to the extent that Ina can not be credited with the naming of the salad (though with the originality of its ingredients, yes- love the tarragon). However, the lack of a wikipedia page on the subject leads me to believe that this is not a dish rooted in history but rather someone came up with the first, named it after her cousin Veronica, published it, and all others henceforth are variations off of that first.
H and I had another cooking date planned and when deciding what to make, she suggested this crisp summertime chicken salad, and who am I to refuse the idea of something crisp and fresh? I was unsure about the tarragon as I know it has an anise taste and I tend to not be crazy about anise, but I must say, it works wonders in this recipe. We served it on some toasty 12-grain ciabatta-style bread and had a delightfully crunchy time.
Chicken Salad Veronique
Following Ina Garten’s Chicken Salad Veronique
Rather than re-post her recipe and steal hits away frmo the food network website, I’ll simply post a few notes on how our preparation differed- because, really, we followed it quite closely:
- We used Helman’s low-fat mayonnaise with olive oil (no HFCS!)- and at a bit under 1/2 a cup, it was even a bit too much. I’d start with 1/3 of a cup and see how that goes- with mayo, once it’s too much, you can’t go back!
- We halved the chicken amount and used 2 chicken breasts instead of four
- We used 3 stalks, rather than 2, for the celery, as we both like things to be crunchy :)
- We had closer to 2 tablespoons tarragon… maybe nearing 3…. hey, you know, fresh herbs don’t last forever, it’s best to use them when they’re in good shape, right?
It was very yummy, very fresh (have I said that enough yet?) and a really lovely summer dish. It’s a great take-with-you lunch, for picnics, office parties, what have you. Easy to cart around and easy to make in larger quantities- especially with the chicken baking in the oven (which, by the way, took as (exactly as H extimated) 20 minutes and no more) it’s even hands-off! Excellent.
as miss h’s auntie – wish I’d been there to have a bite of that DELICIOUS lookin’ chick salad ! yum yum yum