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10 sassy chicken salads to rock your summer menu

It seems like every chef has their own secret ingredients when it comes to sassing up chicken salads. Find your new favorite here.

Tara Fitzpatrick, Senior Editor

May 3, 2021

10 Slides
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Is chicken salad the ultimate blank canvas of summer menu items? Talk to a bunch of onsite chefs at the start of summer and it definitely starts to seem that way.

“I like to pick a world region and then focus on flavor balancing,” says Boston College Chef Bradley Shannon. “I draw influences from regions then make a salad out of it. Chicken carries the flavors.”

Chicken salad certainly is an art form to observe in the kitchen as chefs take into account flavor combos, texture and many more details including, but not limited to, herbs, aromatics, powdered spices and crunchy, spicy add-ons like pickled jalapenos, mayo base vs. sour cream vs. yogurt and more.

And then deciding how to serve your masterpiece is another “choose your own adventure,” with perfectly portable options from sliced bakery bread to wraps to bowls to street food tostadas and burritos.

Contact Tara at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter @Tara_Fitzie

About the Author

Tara Fitzpatrick

Senior Editor, Informa Restaurant & Food Group

Tara Fitzpatrick is Food Management’s senior editor and a contributor to Restaurant Hospitality and Nation’s Restaurant News, creating editorial content for digital, print and events. Tara holds a bachelor of science degree from the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kent State University. Before joining Food Management in 2008, Tara was associate editor at National Association of College Stores in Oberlin, Ohio. Prior to that, Tara worked as a newspaper reporter in her hometown of Lorain, Ohio, where she lives now. Tara is a fan of food history, legends, lore, ghost stories, urban farming and old cookbooks. 

Tara Fitzpatrick’s areas of expertise include the onsite foodservice industry (K-12 schools, colleges and universities, healthcare and B&I), menu trends, sustainability in foodservice, senior dining, farm-to-table and innovation.

Tara Fitzpatrick is a frequent webinar and podcast host and has served on the board of directors for IFEC (International Food Editors Consortium).

Tara Fitzpatrick’s experience:

Senior Editor, Food Management (Feb 2008-present)

Associate Editor, National Association of College Stores (2005-2008)

Reporter, The Morning Journal (2002-2005)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-fitzpatrick-4a08451/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tara_Fitzie

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