Ina's Mustard Chicken Salad

I worship her.  I really do.  She never fails me.  So many things and people do, but never Ina.  

Charlotte loves chicken salad.  Most people are verrry picky about their chicken salad.  Not Miss C.    She's pretty accommodating when it comes to CS.  Almost every week, I buy her some pre-made CS for her to take in her lunch.....she prefers Edgars, but Fresh Market and Whole Foods works also.

The one thing she doesn't eat a lot of are veggies.  Mostly my fault, because I don't eat a lot of veggies either.  I have to force myself to eat green things.  So, when I saw Ina making this on a Barefoot Contessa show last week (I TIVO all of them...it's sad) I knew I'd made it for Miss C.  It combines her love of chicken salad and throws in a veggie (maybe to counteract the mayonnaise??) for a little healthy kick!

It starts with roasting 4 whole chicken breasts (skin on, bone in) in the oven with just some olive oil and salt and pepper for about 40 minutes.

Remove the skin and de-bone and chop up into bite size chunks.

Throw the broccoli into some boiling, salted water for a few minutes.

Then shock it in some ice water to stop the cooking.

Mix up the sauce.....mayonnaise (I used low fat), white wine, dijon mustard, and whole grain mustard.  See those specks of mustard seeds....

Finish by adding some halved cherry or grape tomatoes and some chopped tarragon.  

Simply delicious.  And simple.

This recipe makes way too much sauce.  I only used about a third of it and it's plenty moist.

Here's the recipe:

Mustard Chicken Salad

Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa,   Episode:  Barefoot Classics

2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and dice the chicken in large bite-size pieces.

Meanwhile, add the broccoli florets to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook for 1 minute, until crisp tender, drain, and place into a bowl of ice water until cool. This will stop the cooking and set the bright green color.

For the dressing, whisk together the mayonnaise, wine, mustards, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add enough sauce to the warm chicken to moisten well. Add the tarragon, broccoli, and tomatoes and mix gently to combine. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.