Rotisserie chickens are awesome. I’ve been picking them up at Giant on the occasional Friday because they have a 2/$10 sale and it seems like a pretty good deal since I can get two or more nights worth of dinner from one chicken. While they’re really tasty (as long as you don’t accidentally pick up the “Chesapeake” version, covered in nasty Old Bay seasoning), they’re often a little on the small side, so you have to pick over their selection to find one with a decent breast. And now, they raised their prices. Now it’s 2/$11 all of a sudden and I’m irritated. I know food prices have been going up all over the world (grocery shopping back in Canada last month was a shock) but I hate paying more for stuff “on sale”.

So now I go to Costco for my rotisserie chicken fix. Not only are they cheaper, at $4.99, but they’re considerably bigger. And delicious.

Oh wait, you probably want to read about the chicken salad I made. I’ll get to that.

Fancy Schmancy Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Breast meat from one rotisserie chicken
One rib of celery
Sliced almonds
Dried cranberries
Pinch of thyme
Salt and pepper
Mayonnaise

This makes enough filling for 4 sandwiches, assuming your chicken is well-endowed in the breast area.

I pulled the two breasts off my rotisserie chicken and cut the meat into small pieces. That was the hardest part, because I had to keep elbowing three cats off the counter. Then I chopped the celery into thin slices, and tossed it into a bowl with the chicken and a handful of almonds and craisins. I didn’t measure them, I just put some in until it looked good, but I think 1/4 cup is a reasonable approximation. I added some salt and pepper and a pinch of thyme, and then put in a dollop or two of mayonnaise. Different people have different opinions on how squishy and mayonnaisey chicken salad should be, so the amount is up to you. I like it to be wet enough to hold together, so pieces aren’t falling out of a sandwich. Also, I love mayo, so I usually add just a little more than necessary.

I let it sit all day, covered, in the fridge, so the flavors could get friendly. It ended up really good and I’ll be trying it again. The craisins made it a little bit too sweet, so I’m either going to add less next time or try adding something acidic to counter the sweetness. A few recipes I’ve seen call for lemon juice or white wine vinegar, maybe I’ll try that.