THE CURIOUS PALATE’S CHICKEN SALAD

If you want nothing to do with the oven or the stove, look to the this chicken salad and simply skip over the part about roasting the chicken. Garnished with dried cranberries and roasted, sliced almonds, the salad is bound by a garlicky mayo that gets a punch of flavor from a freshly made basil pesto. (If you don’t want to make your own aioli or pesto, you can buy those premade as well — we don’t judge.)

Makes: 6 to 8 servings Total time: 45 minutes 1(5-to5 ½-pound) roasting chicken

Salt

½ apple

½ lemon

A few sprigs thyme

1 garlic clove 2 bay leaves

5 black peppercorns

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt, seasoning the inside and outside. Stuff the chicken with the apple, lemon, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and black peppercorns.

3. Truss the chicken and place it on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast the chicken until a thermometer inserted reaches 170 degrees, 1 to 1 ½ hours. Remove and set aside until cool enough to handle.

4. Peel the skin from the chicken and shred the meat. Cover and refrigerate until needed. The chicken can be made up to 2 days ahead.

For the aioli:

1 egg yolk

1 small clove garlic, minced ¼ teaspoon black pepper ¾ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup canola oil

In a food processor or blender, combine the yolk, garlic, black pepper, salt and lemon juice. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil to form the aioli. This makes about 1 cup aioli, more than is needed for the remainder of the recipe; the aioli will keep, covered and refrigerated, up to 3 days.

For the pesto:

½ cup chopped arugula

½ cup chopped basil

¼ cup toasted almonds

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a food processor, combine the arugula, basil, almonds and lemon juice. Pulse to puree the ingredients. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil to form the pesto. This makes about ½ cup pesto, more than is needed for the remainder of the recipe; the pesto will keep for up to 2 days, covered and refrigerated.

Chicken salad assembly: Shredded roast chicken meat

½ cup aioli, more if desired

¼ cup pesto, more if desired

¼ cup chopped roasted tomatoes

¼ cup chopped green onion

Salt and pepper, if desired 2 tablespoons sliced, roasted almonds

¼ cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl, toss the chicken meat with the aioli and pesto to coat. Stir in the tomatoes and green onion. Taste and adjust the aioli and pesto, and season to taste. Garnish the salad with the roasted almonds and cranberries before serving. This makes about 1 ½ quarts salad, which will keep for up to 2 days, covered and refrigerated.

— Adapted from the Curious Palate