Like chicken salad, but trying to cut back on bread?

If you want to avoid the bread, croissants, and wraps, there’s always a scoop of chicken salad on greens, in lettuce cups, or stuffed into a bell pepper, tomato, or avocado half.

But we thought these ideas from Willow Tree Farm add allure to a long-time favorite.

Whether a filling for celery or fennel stalks, or a base for mini “cucumber sandwiches,” these make fun appetizers or snacks.

Use your own chicken salad or one from Willow Tree Farm.

cucumber sandwiches. Serve #Sriracha Chicken Salad between two cucumbers for a crunchy, cool, and spicy bite.
 
 
RECIPE: CHICKEN SALAD STACKS

For snacks, with beer, or as an amuse bouche before dinner. For something sweeter, you can use apple slices.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SLICE the cucumber into 1/2″ slices

2. PLACE the chicken salad on half of the cucumber slices. Top with a cucumber slice.

3. ROUND the edges with a spatula. Garnish with cilantro and secure with a toothpick.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHICKEN SALAD

It may come as a surprise—because modern mayonnaise was invented around 1800——but the Chinese were the first to serve variations of “chicken salad” (see below).

The ingredients were not the same as what we call Chinese chicken salad*, but included pieces of chicken mixed with a variety of spices and oils and another binder, such as rice.

The American form of chicken salad was first served in 1863 by Town Meats, a meat market in Wakefield, Rhode Island. The owner, Liam Gray, mixed leftover chicken with mayonnaise, tarragon, and grapes. It became such a popular item that the meat market was converted into a delicatessen.

Modern Chicken Salad

In the U.S., chicken salad is a cold salad with chicken as the main ingredient and is typically bound with mayonnaise with optional mustard. Other ingredients can include bell pepper, celery, hard-boiled egg, onion, pickles, or pickle relish, plus herbs, such as dill, rosemary, or tarragon.

It can also include diced apples, grapes, or dried fruit, such as cherries, cranberries, or raisins. Diced mango is another popular addition as are nuts, such as almonds, pecans, and walnuts.

In some areas of the U.S., especially the South, chicken salad may be a garden salad topped with fried, grilled, or roasted chicken, sliced.

While today chicken salad is mostly served in a sandwich or wrap, it has a history as a ladies’ luncheon staple, served on a bed of greens with sliced tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, bell pepper rings, and olives or other garnish, served with crackers.

Variations were inevitable, using ingredients specific to regional and international cuisines.

 
Modern recipes expand the concept of chicken salad to pasta salad or Caesar salad with chunks of chicken; add wing sauce and blue cheese for buffalo chicken salad.

Binders can include anything you like: blue cheese dressing, hummus, pesto, remoulade sauce, Russian dressing, Thai peanut sauce, and on and on.

In other countries, chicken salad can be made with any number of dressings, along with couscous, pasta, rice, and vegetables.

So don’t be wary: Experiment!

Fancy presentations serve it in a lettuce-lined coupe; molded into a ring; or scooped into a toast cup, avocado half, or pineapple half.

As with any recipe, add whatever you like; from bacon to capers to pickled jalapeño.
 
 
ABOUT WILLOW TREE FARM

Willow Tree Farm makes pot pies and chicken salad from premium white meat.

In addition to the original chicken salad, there’s a flavorful selection of:

 
The products are sold at major retailers, including BJ’s, Stop & Shop, and Whole Foods in New England and the East Coast. Here’s a store locator.

[2] cucumber stacks (photos #1 and #2 © Willow Tree Farm).

[3] Chicken salad in wonton wrappers. Here’s the recipe (photo © Shared).

[4] Mango chicken salad in an avocado. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Real Food Dieticians).

[5] Southwestern chicken salad. Here’s the recipe (photo © Sally’s Baking Addiction).

[6] Avocado chicken salad. Here’s the recipe (photo © Whole And Heavenly Oven).