Italian Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups
Difficulty: Easy Servings: 12 Total Time: 48 minutes (Prep 40 minutes; Cook 8 minutes)
Nutritional Information (per serving 1 of 12): Calories 281, Total Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 4 g, Carbohydrates 4 g, Dietary Fiber 2 g, Sugar 1 g, Protein 35 g, Cholesterol 94 mg, Sodium 396 mg.
Ingredients
- 10 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (from about 3 store-bought roasted whole chickens)
- 2 cups roasted red and yellow bell peppers, well-drained, patted dry, and roughly chopped
- 1 1/4 cups paper-thin sliced red onion
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
- 3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup drained capers
- About 1 1/2 cups Red Wine Vinaigrette (recipe below)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 24 butter lettuce leaves (from about 3 large heads)
- 1 piece (4 ounces) Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, chopped bell peppers, sliced onion, parsley, toasted almonds, and capers.
- Add enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the mixture and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Place one large and one small butter lettuce leaf overlapped on each serving plate; fill the cups with the chicken mixture.
- Drizzle with extra vinaigrette, sprinkle with Parmesan shavings, and serve.
- Make-ahead tip: Prepare the chicken salad up to 4 hours in advance and chill. Just before serving, spoon into the lettuce leaves.
Red Wine Vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup olive oil
Combine the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Yields about 1 3/4 cups of vinaigrette.
