Healthy Recipes: Tarragon Chicken Salad

From the “what do I do with it?” files, I’ve put together a healthy recipe for tarragon chicken salad to show you just one of the many wonderful ways in which you can use garden-grown tarragon in the kitchen.

Tarragon is an herb that many Americans aren’t familiar with, and that’s a shame. It’s often used in French cuisine, and the first time I tasted this delicacy was at a restaurant headed by a French chef.

I fell in love with the sweet, slightly tangy taste of tarragon that day. Since then, anytime I have chicken, I load it up with dried tarragon from my pantry.

Tarragon can be fussy to grow here in Virginia, so many gardening books recommend that for southern gardeners, a variety called Mexican tarragon or Texas tarragon can be grown instead. I grew Mexican tarragon in my herb garden this year and it thrived in the hot climate and slightly sandy soil where I grow my herbs.

Healthy Recipes: Tarragon Chicken Salad

Tarragon pairs well with chicken for this healthy summer treat. You can use leftover chicken from a roast or cook up and dice several chicken breasts for the meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 cups of cooked, diced chicken (white meat only)
• 1/2 stalk of celery, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons of dried tarragon OR 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 10 seedless black grapes, sliced in half

 

Dice the chicken and celery and mix in a bowl. Mix mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper and tarragon, then stir it into the chicken and celery mix. Lastly, mix in some of the halved grapes. Serve on a bed of Romaine lettuce. Unused portions should be covered and refrigerated immediately.

Enjoy!