Night before last my wife had me pick up a couple roasted chickens from the grocery deli (rotisserie chickens).

Well the next day was freakin' hot and I had no desire to cook. We had about 1 1/2 chickens left after dinner the night before (oops I bought too much). In my opinion these deli chickens don't reheat very well and get dry. So what to do? Chicken Salad to the rescue!

Recipe:
Pull all the meat off the carcass(es) and chunk/chop it (but not too fine or you'll have chicken mush!). I ended up with easily 6 cups of chicken.
Add miracle whip (or mayo) to your liking. We had a lot of chicken so I used at least 1 cup but probably closer to 1.5.
Add in 2 tablespoons of your favorite prepared mustard (I used simple yellow mustard).
Add 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Add in 2-4 teaspoons of dried Rosemary leaves (or fresh if you've got access but adjust your amounts as needed since fresh is potent)
Add in fresh ground black pepper to taste
Add 2 teaspoons of paprika
Add in diced/chopped celery (I used 3 large stalks)
Add in 3-4 green onions sliced thin.

Mix thoroughly. For best results chill for at least an hour. Overnight chilling is better as the flavors have a chance to mix and mingle (you can actually cook in the fridge you know. chemical reactions and all that).

We had it as sandwiches on 12-Grain Dakota bread with tomato slices and lettuce. Today I ate some for lunch with just club crackers. Great food for a hot day! YUM!

You deserve a t-shirt!!!


Thanks

nice, you need a show on public access TV now


Left-overs with Tofu!

Excellent Tofu! I also make chicken salad from some of the rotisserie chicken leftovers... Mr. Caf doesn't really like whole-meat chicken and chicken salad reminds him of cat food (no matter how it's made). I eat a meal or two off the rotisserie chicken, then make chicken salad for myself from some of the leftovers. Finally, Mr. Caf makes a wonderful chicken soup from whatever is left.

I've discovered I like my chicken salad on the sweet side and with lots of different textures:
To maybe 1.5 cups bite-sized chicken, I add
1 - 1.5 stalks of celery, diced
maybe 3 Tbs of diced onion
1/2 an apple, diced
1-2 Tbs of chopped walnuts (handful)
1-2 Tbs of raisins (slightly larger handful)
about 3 Tbs of mayo, probably less
and 1-2 Tbs of apple cider vinegar to help thin and spread out the mayo

I've also cut grapes in half instead of using apple, and have used dried cranberries (craisins) instead of raisins.

All measurements are approximate since I don't usually measure; I add each ingredient to "what looks right" and add more (or more of other ingredient(s)) to taste.

Mr. Caf's chicken soup is incredibly rich since he does not overly water down the stock.

As you eat the chicken fresh, save the bones from the drumsticks, thighs, and wings, etc.
Put the rest of the chicken plus the saved bones in a pot and cover with water plus some. Add a couple bouillon cubes (for salt, mainly).
Boil until the meat falls off bone. Add water as needed to keep the chicken covered or to make more soupy soup.
Strain (save broth!)
Pick out bones from the meat. This would be easier if you let it cool some. Mr. Caf is impatient.
Throw the meat back into the stock.
Set pot on low, add carrots, celery, and a little pepper to taste. You might like a bay leaf or other seasonings, like rosemary, too.
If desired, add noodles or al dente rice at the end.

The resulting "soup" is usually more of a "chicken stew." We usually do not add noodles or rice since the soup is quite filling. Typically, I leave roughly 1/3 - 1/2 of the original rotisserie chicken for him to make soup from.

Mr. Caf usually misses some of the smaller bones, so any suggestions for how to more easily sort them out would be welcome. I've suggested cutting what meat he can off the bones to add in with the vegetables and then discarding what little bits of meat are strained off with the bones, but he doesn't want to lose one shred of that meat... and it does help make the soup/stew very rich.