The Best Warm Chicken Salad With Pan Drippings Vinaigrette
I love my cold chicken salad, but there’s something so right about crispy, steaming chicken plopped atop a pile of well-dressed bitter greens (radicchio, in this instance). Roasting chicken will also lend drippings to spare, and hopefully some browned bits on the pan that will be excellent for mixing into a dressing shaped with Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. And while we’re roasting, some crisped winter squash can sub in for croutons to bulk up the salad. I’ve added fresh grapes and walnuts because we so often find those chunks bobbing about in cold, mayonnaise-bound chicken salads. They make great additions to a warm one, as do crumbles of pungent (in the best way) cheese like Gorgonzola. Feel free to mix up the fresh fruit, cheese, and nut options here to make your best warm chicken salad—or just the best one you can put together using what you have available.Serves 4 to 6
- 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
- 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 delicata squash or other winter squash (except spaghetti squash), or 1 pound of cauliflower florets or sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch-wide wedges
- 1 cup walnut halves or other nuts (optional)
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 small head radicchio or chicory, or 6 cups baby arugula
- 2 cups green grapes, halved
- 1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola or blue cheese
