Leftover bird

So now that you've roasted your chicken, what to do with what's left?

Even if you think you ate most of it - look again.  Those scraps leftover are perfect for one of my rediscovered favorites, the humble chicken salad sandwich.  Don't worry, we're not talking the gross gluey glob of greasy spoon lunch counters, but an actual chicken salad made with roast chicken and whatever else you have on hand that actually tastes good.

The formula is simple - cut of bits of chicken, fruit, veggies, nuts, or herbs and enough mayo or other condiments to make it hold together.  A couple of my favorite combos:

Chicken, apple, red onion, tarragon, mayo, and dijon.
Chicken, dried apricot bits, sage, walnuts, and mayo.
Chicken, olives, tomatoes (sun dried are especially nice).
Chicken, bacon, blue cheese, avocado.

Using the right ingredients (and properly roasted chicken as your start), and suddenly the chicken salad sandwich is something you actually want to eat.

If you have a bit more or just want something warm, here are some other ideas for the leftover chicken:

Saute some veggies, garlic and herbs in olive oil and add to pasta.
Make a burrito, tacos, or enchiladas.
Use as a topping for a pizza.
Make a stir-fry or a curry.
Make a chicken noodle soup (we'll cover soup stock later).

While most of these are simple foods, they will all taste better when the chicken has been roasted.

I decided to make a sandwich for lunch (chicken, apricot, walnut, sage, and mayo) and a curry for dinner.
To make a curry, you can either saute vegetables, add a store-bought (cheater) sauce to simmer until the veggies are done, then toss in bits of the roast chicken, and heat through.

While jarred curry sauces are not cooking from scratch, if you can find one you like made without all of the preservatives, it can be a great way to cook a large amount of vegetables, use up leftover bits of chicken, and still have something people will eat in a pinch.

I've been experimenting lately with trying curry from scratch and came up with the following: First I toasted some ground almonds and caraway seeds (to be honest, I accidentally dumped half the bottle of caraway seeds not realizing it did not have a sprinkle top and had to fish them out of the hot pan - doh!).  Then, I added some coconut oil (butter or other oil would work just fine), chopped garlic, onion, and ginger and sauted.  Then I added a couple of teaspoons of garam masala spice (other curry blends would work) and some extra chile powder and flakes.  Once everything was well-coated in spice and it formed sort of a paste, I tossed in some chopped potatoes and tomatoes and enough chicken stock to just cover.  I let the potatoes go for about 5 minutes, then added carrots.  After another 10-15 minutes, I added some greens (kale) and then finally topped off with the leftover chicken and a good-sized splash of cream.

Curry.  Of sorts.  It did turn out tastier than the jarred version :)

Chicken Salad Sandwich
(Bad picture, good sandwich)