Chicken Club Salad

Martha Stewart's recipes ceaselessly amaze me. They are typically accurate, easy to follow, and delicious.

Ms. Stewart's Everyday Food magazine has something in it for everyone; the issue that this Chicken Club Salad recipe was torn from had numerous other recipes I was interested in - and I've got the stack of them stuck to my refrigerator as proof.

I especially love the Good Things magazines. The 'For The Kitchen' issue is dog eared in multiple places, water stained, crinkle paged, food and sauce splattered, grease marked and very, very well loved.

My husband and I had this salad on a particularly warm evening; I had prepared all of the ingredients beforehand and simply tossed it all together before serving it on a bed of homegrown, fresh from the garden lettuce - delicious.

Chicken Club Salad
From Martha Stewart Everyday Food
Serves 4

6 slices bacon
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6-8 ounces each)
coarse salt and ground pepper
3 plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch think, plus 1/2 cup celery leaves (optional)
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
lettuce leaves, for serving

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lay bacon in a single layer on prepared sheet; bake until it begins to render it's fat, about 10 minutes. Turn bacon over, and slide to one side of sheet. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and place on baking sheet. Bake until bacon is browned and crisp and chicken is cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate, and let drain; crumble. Let chicken cool completely. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, celery, celery leaves (if using), mayonnaise, and vinegar.

Cut chicken into 1/2 inch chunks, and add to bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Serve chicken salad over lettuce leaves, and sprinkle with bacon.

Chicken Club Salad