My father’s delicious chicken salad (min fars kyllingesalat)

This dish is a family favourite, and I think we are almost more excited about this dish than the actual roast chicken the day before.

The perfect use for leftover chicken, this salad is simple and makes a great side. Credit: Jacqui Small / Lisa Linder

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

My father was always very creative about using leftovers from various meat cuts including roast chicken. If we had a dish with bones, these would never be discarded before a fabulous stock had been made using the bones from meat, fish or poultry alike. My father even had a freezer in his house exclusively for his homemade stocks. This salad is delicious served with toasted rye bread or as a light bite in a little gem lettuce leaf.

Ingredients

For the salad

• 400 g (14 oz) roast chicken leftovers or grilled (broiled) chicken breast, cooled
• 200 g (7 oz) celeriac (celery root)
• 4 sticks of celery

For the dressing

• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 4 tbsp crème fraîche
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp raw cane sugar

To serve

• thick slices of rye bread, toasted
• chives, finely chopped, to garnish

Instructions

Chop the chicken, celeriac (celery root) and celery into small dice, then place in a large mixing bowl and mix together.

Mix all the dressing ingredients together until smooth, then pour over the salad. Mix together well with your hands.

Serve the salad on the rye bread, with chopped chives scattered on top.

Recipe and image from Cook Yourself Happy by Caroline Fleming (Jacqui Small, hb, $49.99). Read more from Caroline on the joys of cooking here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

My father was always very creative about using leftovers from various meat cuts including roast chicken. If we had a dish with bones, these would never be discarded before a fabulous stock had been made using the bones from meat, fish or poultry alike. My father even had a freezer in his house exclusively for his homemade stocks. This salad is delicious served with toasted rye bread or as a light bite in a little gem lettuce leaf.