Creole Chicken Salad

So here’s a chicken salad a little on the zesty side. Chicken cooked coated in a healthy dose of Creole seasoning for zip is mixed with the trinity of Creole cooking, celery, green bell pepper and onion (milder green onion in this case) and coated in a peppy dressing of mayonnaise and Creole mustard with as much hot sauce as you can manage. I add some crunchy toasted pecans for texture, all of which produces an ideal chicken salad – creamy, crunchy, savory with a hint of sweet and packed with flavor. This is a perfect chicken salad for sandwiches, but serve it with crackers as an appetizer or on top of seasonal greens.

I always season my chicken well before cooking it, in this case with plenty of Creole seasoning (I like Tony Chachere’s) and this simple oven method. Seal the baking dish tight so the chicken stays moist, then pour the cooking juices over the shredded meat as well. If you aren’t shredding your chicken with a mixer, you are missing a trick. Either a stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a bowl – it is fast and it really gives you lovely strands. But the two forks method works too. And I always cut my add-ins into really small pieces so it’s easy to get a forkful with every element. For the celery, green onion and pepper, I use my favorite chopper. Add hot sauce to taste, but hold back if you don’t know the spice tolerance of your guests – you can always put the bottle out for extras.