I have called myself a chicken salad savant before, because I love chicken salad in its many, many forms. So here I take a trip to the Med, with this herb-forward, light and tangy version. Zhoggiu (pronounced zah-dew) is a Sicilian pesto that shows the Mediterranean crossroads heritage of the Italian island, creating a wonderfully flavorful sauce with a Middle Eastern twist and Italian sensibility. It is perfect coating shredded chicken. That alone is an amazingly light and fresh chicken salad on its own or on top of salad greens, but I love it tucked into a wrap. A thin layer of thickened yogurt adds a nice tangy creaminess. These wraps are a marvelous spring or summer lunch and are even perfect for a picnic.
I make the thickened spread called labneh it fresh from Greek yogurt, but some markets sell tubs of prepared labneh and you are welcome to use that. Any leftover labneh is a great spread for crackers or toast topped with avocado or sliced tomatoes. I find wheat lavash flatbread at most markets, but any sandwich wrap or a tortilla works. I love delicate microgreens, usually arugula, on this but you can use baby spinach or regular arugula too. It’s so easy to cook a couple of chicken breasts for this, but you could use a rotisserie chicken. You can make the labneh up to three days ahead and the chicken one, but make the sauce, assemble the salad and prepare the wraps all at the same time. I prefer to let the wraps sit in the fridge for about an hour, but you can leave them for several before serving.
Ingredients
2 cups Greek yogurt
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper
2 ounces blanched slivered almonds
2 garlic cloves
1 bunch Italian parsley
1 large bunch mint
3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
6 – 8 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups arugula micro greens
4 lavash flatbreads
Directions
- Line a wire mesh sieve with cheesecloth and scoop the yogurt into it. Pull the cheesecloth over the top of the yogurt and place a can or heavy jar on top to press out the liquid. Leave for an hour or so, until the yogurt is thick and spreadable, like peanut butter. This is thick yogurt is called labneh. You can do this up to three days ahead, cover and keep in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and put the chicken breasts in a baking dish. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, cover the dish tightly with foil and bake until cooked through (an internal temperature of 165 degrees), about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, the pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels and transfer to a large bowl. Shred the chicken into thin ribbons. I think the best way to do this is with a hand mixer, but two forks will work as well. Leave to cool completely.
- Toast the almonds in a dry skillet, shaking around until they are lightly toasted a golden brown. Transfer to small food processor to cool. Pulse a few times to break up the almonds, then add the garlic and pulse a few times. Add the parsley, mint and vinegar and pulse to chop finely. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend to emulsify, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. You want a loose paste that will coat the chicken, but not lots of oily residue, so you may not need all of the oil. Scoop the sauce over the chicken and use a fork to toss it around, coating the chicken well. If the zhogghiu doesn’t coat the chicken, you can add a little oil to loosen it. Season with salt to taste if needed.
- Spread each lavash wrap with a layer of the labneh, so the surface is covered, but not a thick layer. Spread a couple of handfuls of the chicken salad over the surface, then a handful of the micro arugula. Roll the wrap from the short end to a nice tight spiral. Wrap each log tightly in waxed paper. Refrigerate for an hour or so, then serve cut into two halves or smaller spirals.
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