Green goddess chicken club salad

 

The recipe for a chicken club sandwich looked delicious. But with a four-foot-square raised bed of leafy greens, salads, not sandwiches are on the menu these days. Better we eat it instead of letting the slugs feast on it. Besides, there's something very satisfying about weekly bringing in a big bowl of lettuce that you know would have cost you $10 at the store and would wilt to mush in next to no time.

But I had a leftover chicken breast  that we'd grilled after it marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, white wine and garlic chives. That also shouldn't go to waste. So I inverted the sandwich recipe a bit, using the dressing called for and using croutons in place of the bread.

Green goddess chicken club salad

Adapted from the sandwich version in “Great Tastes: Cooking(and Eating) from Morning to Midnight” by sisters Danielle and Laura Kosann of The New Potato blog.

Ingredients

1 slice sturdy bread

Olive oil

½ teaspoon dried thyme

3 to 4 tablespoons green goddess dressing

6 to 8 cups mixed salad greens

1 cooked chicken breast, sliced

¼ cup cherry tomato halves

2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Freshly shaved Parmesan for garnish

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice bread slice into 1-inch cubes. Toss with a drizzle of olive oil, thyme and some salt and pepper. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes until crisp. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place 3 tablespoons green goddess in a large mixing bowl. Toss with greens, adding more as needed to get the desired dressing-to-greens ratio.

Divide greens among two plates. Top each with half of the chicken, half the tomatoes, half the bacon and half the bread cubes. Top with a few more dollops of dressing. Garnish with shaved Parmesan. Serves 2.

Green goddess dressing

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup basil leaves

1 tablespoon tarragon leaves

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This makes a fairly sturdy dressing. There will be leftovers. This is not a problem.

Rating: Tasty. That dressing could pinch hit for a dip. And, well, there's bacon.