On more than one occasion after roasting or grilling one of whole chickens from Sojourner Farms, we have taken the leftovers and thrown together the tastiest chicken salad we’ve ever had. I decided to take one of the chickens this week and roast it, with the sole purpose of making the best chicken salad ever! I roasted it very simply with just salt and pepper, no oil or anything else.

Simple Roast Chicken

One 3- to 4-pound farm-raised chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.
Salt and pepper the cavity. Now, salt the chicken— try to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it’s cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I left it alone—I didn’t add butter or olive oil; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I didn’t want. Roast it until it’s done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Chicken Salad
4-cups (or thereabouts) of chicken from a whole roast chicken
1 cup of homemade aioli (or any mayo of your choice)
2 to 3 green onions, sliced thinly
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

After the chicken has cooled enough to handle it, remove all of the meat and skin. Put the skin to the side or give it to your husband as a late night snack, like I did. Using kitchen shears or a knife and fork, cut the meat into bit sized pieces or shred it. I placed the chicken in a bowl and allowed it to cool overnight in the refrigerator.

After the chicken is cooled, add the aioli and green onions to the chicken, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to coat all of the chicken. Add more aioli if needed. This can be made ahead of time, covered and chilled.

The Sandwich

2 slices of your favorite sandwich bread (see my recipe for gluten-free sandwich bread)
Aioli
1 plum tomato, sliced thinly
Arugula or Lettuce
Salt and Pepper
Any other condiments of your choice

Toast the bread to your liking. Spread a thin layer of aioli on each slice of bread and top with the chicken salad, top with a bit of fresh ground pepper. Place two thin slices of tomato on top. Add lettuce or anything else you might like. Enjoy the tastiest chicken salad you will ever have.