What to do with Leftovers? Roast Chicken Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

This is the very first recipe of a new series I'm starting here on Chocolate Shavings. "What do with Leftovers" will bring you some fun and easy ideas to effectively use leftovers and turn them into dishes that will feel new. If your kitchen is anything like mine, there is often a plethora of foods to sample... which usually means a lot of leftovers! Roast chicken is a very common leftover in our house. Let's face it, no matter how moist and flavourful the chicken was straight out of the oven, once it's been in the fridge overnight it tends to get a little dry. Using chicken in a well balanced salad really gives it a new life. The key is to thinly shred the chicken and to make sure there is enough dressing on the chicken itself. This salad is, of course, very versatile. All the ingredients used here meld wonderfully with chicken, but don't hesitate to use any other leftovers you might have in the fridge. I've made this with soft crumbled goat cheese, toasted almonds, mandarin oranges, and baby spinach leaves...


Roast Chicken Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Serves 2

1 Roasted chicken breast, discarding the skin
1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 avocado, sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 mini mozarella ball, sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
6 caper berries
3 basil leaves, coarsely torn
A few Parmesan shavings

Shallot Dressing:
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 good squirt of lemon
1 tablespoon of very finely diced shallots
A good pinch of salt and pepper
In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients

Add all the salad ingredients to your serving bowl. Right before serving, add the dressing and mix well. Enjoy!