Fabulous and Easy Potato, Chicken, and Fresh Pea Salad

A couple days ago, I picked up a copy of the April edition of Cooking Light at the grocery store. I used to read Cooking Light a lot when I was in high school but I stopped subscribing when I went to college and never really got back into it. As I flipped through the pages, I immediately felt at home and began to remember just why I liked it so much in the first place. I love their collections of fairly simple, healthy recipes that feature fresh produce. This month's magazine even has a section of recipes featuring goat cheese, which is one of my favorite things! I think I might have to renew my subscription!

One of the recipes that caught my eye was the "Potato, Chicken, and Fresh Pea Salad." I have been feeling like making a potato salad for for a week or so now, but the idea of all that mayonnaise had kept me from starting. This recipe seemed like a great solution. I made it for lunch today and it was everything I'd hoped for and more!

It features rotisserie chicken which was all ready and waiting for me at the grocery store and a tarragon, lemon, dijon mustard vinaigrette which is the perfect finishing touch. Woodley and his friend Steven (who were working from our house today) both loved it and even had seconds!

Potato, Chicken, and Fresh Pea Salad

From Cooking Light, April 2009, page 92

1 pound fingerling potatoes, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces

2 cups fresh sugar snap peas

2 cups chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast {I used leg meat in addition to the breast meat}

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion {I used about half this since we don't really care for red onion}

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced 

{I was happy to find fingerling potatoes at the grocery store. In the past, I haven't been able to find them, but I think little red skinned onions would work just as well.}

{The potatoes had a fun coloring on the inside. I thought they kind of looked like little people running around in the potatoes.}

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan; cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until almost tender. Add peas; cook 2 minutes or until peas are crisp-tender. Drain; place vegetables in a large bowl. 

{I completely forgot to add the peas before draining the potatoes. Oops! When I realized my mistake, I filled up another pan with hot water and quickly heated it to a boil and cooked the peas separately. It worked just fine. Since I wanted to have a cold salad for lunch (it was really hot in the kitchen because I was baking bread), I ran the potatoes and peas under cold water to chill them before adding them to the other vegetables.}

Add the chicken, bell pepper, and onion. 

{Yum! Rotisserie chicken! If I had had left over chicken from making stock I would have used that, but this was a very easy way to go and was only about $3 more expensive than buying an uncooked chicken}

2. Combine oil and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. 

Drizzle over salad; toss gently to combine. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

{Yum! The combination of sugar snap peas, potatoes, and chicken is a great one. It is filling enough to be a main course but is light enough for a hot spring/summer day and only takes about an hour or so to put together. The dressing is divine! I will definitely be making this one again! Probably all spring and summer, every spring summer from now on!} 

~ElizabethRose

Celery Root and Wild Rice Chowder

This is an absolutely amazing soup! I made it last week and have been looking forward to blogging about it ever since. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy when I was mixing it up but I'm sure I'll be making it again before too long so I'll post pictures then. When finished, it seems very sophisticated and is delicious, but it's fairly simple to throw together (or at least it felt simple to me when I was doing it). :) And don't worry, it doesn't really taste very much like celery at all. I personally don't really care much for celery, but I love this soup! Yum! 

The recipe comes from: Local Flavors by Deborah Madison. I would highly highly recommend it for anyone who likes to try out fun new/obscure (and old/traditional) vegetables. It is filled with great recipes using fun ingredients like: sorrel, nettles, lamb's quarters, chicory, kohlrabi, black kale... but there are plenty of recipes that feature only old standbys like tomatoes, corn, broccoli, and eggplant (to name only a few!). 

Celery Root and Wild Rice Chowder 

Serves 4 to 6 

from Local Flavors

by Deborah Madison 

1/2 cup wild rice

1 celery root (about 1 pound)

2 large leeks, white parts only

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 celery rib, diced

1 cup thinly sliced russet potato

1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus extra for garnish

1 bay leaf

1 large thyme sprig 

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock, or water

2 cups half-and-half or milk 

truffle oil, optional 

1. Cover the wild rice with 5 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until tender. 

2. Thickly cut away the celery root skins, then quarter and chop the root into bite-sized pieces. You should have about 3 cups. Chop and wash the leeks. 

3. Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the vegetables, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, then add the stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the half-and-half and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Taste for salt and season with pepper. To give the soup a creamy background, puree a cup of the vegetables and return them to the pot. If the soup is too thick, thin it with some of the rice water or additional stock. 

4. Divide the soup among 4 to 6 bowls and then add a mound of the wild rice to each. Garnish each bowl with parsley and add a drop of truffle oil, if using, and serve. 

In my opinion, the final step of topping the soup off with wild rice, parsley, and truffle oil really made it something special. I don't think I would have bothered with the truffle oil at all, but we happened to have some that was given to us as a wedding present so it was really nice to get a chance to use it! Woodley and I both loved the texture of the wild rice and I think I'll be adding it to other chowders that I make in the future. It really gives it a hearty and wholesome flavor that makes the soup seem less rich.