Chicken and Mushroom Salad with Grilled Chicken

Name: Grilled Chicken and Mushroom Salad with Parmesan
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Large chicken breast fillet 1; Button mushrooms 150 g; Celery stalks 1-2; Tomatoes (slightly underripe) 2; Parmesan or Grana Padano 50 g; Pickled gherkins 50 g; Prepared mayonnaise 2 tbsp (29 g); Salt, black pepper to taste; Water 1 l; Table vinegar 1 tbsp; Salad leaves for serving

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45 mins

This homemade chicken and mushroom salad is quick to make and uses simple ingredients. It is a tasty cold appetizer that can be served in individual portions, as a side dish, or on a big platter for a large holiday table. Depending on the season, you can use button mushrooms or wild mushrooms, and turkey or game works just as well in place of chicken breast.

Italian cuisine has a similar salad that follows its own rules. There the chicken breast is boiled and wild mushrooms are used. It is delicious and luxurious, but not always possible. Button mushrooms, on the other hand, are always available. For this appetizer I fry the chicken in a grill pan. Once it has cooled, I cut the meat into large strips. This way the chicken stays firm and has a pleasant aroma.

We make this salad with chicken instead of other meat, and use fewer vegetables, such as potatoes and carrots. We also leave out the eggs and use very little mayonnaise. Celery stalks and the firm flesh of the tomatoes keep the appetizer juicy. For flavor we add a little grated Parmesan or Grana Padano. And the salad is best generously seasoned with coarsely ground fresh black pepper.

Instead of mayonnaise, you can use a dressing based on soured milk or yogurt with herbs. This is optional. In total the salad needs 1.5-2 tbsp of mayonnaise; if you have a good store-bought one, you can use it and get a good result. If you have no fresh tomatoes, you can mix the mayonnaise with tomato sauce. Serve the salad right away: it does not need time to soak up the dressing or chill.

The best choice for this salad is fresh porcini. That is not always possible, so we use button mushrooms, which are sold all year round. You can also use large oyster mushrooms or the Asian mushrooms now widely available, such as king oyster and shiitake.

All the preparation of the chicken and mushrooms comes down to a little cooking. It is enough to boil the mushrooms for a few minutes in slightly acidulated water. The chicken breast should be lightly pounded and fried in a grill pan on both sides until done. The other ingredients need no preparation. For serving, I recommend buying a bunch of salad greens, such as lettuce or romaine. The appetizer looks beautiful and impressive on green leaves.

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Ingredients

2 servings

For the salad
Large chicken breast fillet 1
Button mushrooms 150 g
Celery stalks 1-2
Tomatoes (slightly underripe) 2
Parmesan or Grana Padano 50 g
Pickled gherkins 50 g
Prepared mayonnaise 2 tbsp (29 g)
Salt, black pepper to taste
For boiling the mushrooms
Water 1 l
Table vinegar 1 tbsp
For serving
Salad leaves for serving

Step-by-step recipe

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How to prepare the chicken and mushrooms

Chicken and mushroom salad is made from ingredients you can buy at any time of year. It is better to use chicken breast that has not been frozen, as it comes out juicier after grilling. The button mushrooms should be fresh and white; size does not matter, since they are sliced after boiling. You can try replacing the celery stalks with cucumber.
Boil the mushrooms in acidulated water. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly, removing any bits of growing medium. In a small saucepan, bring 1 l of water to a boil and add 1 tbsp of table vinegar; the acid reduces darkening of the mushrooms while they boil. Add the whole mushrooms to the boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Then drain them in a colander and let them cool to room temperature.
Prepare and pound the chicken breast. Carefully trim the membranes and any fat from the breast and remove bones, if there are any. With a sharp knife, slice the breast through its thickness so it opens like a book and its area doubles. Lightly pound the meat with the back of the knife; the aim is to even out the thickness of the chicken.
Fry the chicken on a grill pan on both sides. Heat the grill pan well over high heat; there is no need to grease it. Fry the chicken over medium heat until a golden crust or grill marks from the ridges of the pan form, then flip and fry the other side. The total cooking time is 8-10 minutes, which is enough for a thin piece of chicken: when cut, the meat should be white, with no pink juices.
Transfer the chicken to a plate, cover with a napkin and let it cool to room temperature; the meat goes into the salad cold.

How to assemble the salad

Cut all the ingredients. It is better to keep the cut ingredients on a large plate for now and mix them just before serving. Cut the pickled gherkins into small cubes. Peel the outer layer off the celery stalks to reveal the juicy flesh, and dice it as for American potato salad. Slice the cooled mushrooms into thin pieces. Cut the chicken into large sticks, not too long: 3-4 cm is enough. Peel one tomato, remove the seeds, and dice the flesh; keep the other for garnish.
Mix the salad and dress it with mayonnaise. Just before serving, put all the cut ingredients into a salad bowl. Salt carefully, because the gherkins can be quite salty and sour. Season generously with pepper, preferably freshly ground black pepper, which is very aromatic. Mix all the ingredients, add 1 tbsp of prepared mayonnaise (14 g) and gently mix once more.

Serving

Shape the salad on the leaves using a ring. Arrange washed and dried salad leaves on a plate; to keep them crisp, it is worth soaking them in ice water for a few hours beforehand. I shape the salad on the leaves with a pastry ring of a suitable diameter, packing the salad mixture in firmly. Spread the remaining mayonnaise (1 tbsp) over the top of the salad and sprinkle generously with finely grated hard cheese, Parmesan or Grana Padano.
Garnish with tomato and serve at once. We usually garnish the salad with the second tomato cut into wedges, which looks lovely on the green leaves. It is also very good served with bruschetta or toasted croutons.

Calories and macros

440 kcal

Serving ≈ 970 g

Protein52 g49% of kcal
Fat21 g44% of kcal
Carbs7 g7% of kcal

100 g46 kcalProtein 5.4 gFat 2.2 gCarbs 0.7 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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