Apple Chicken Salad Plus a Girard’s GIVEAWAY!!!

 

You know what food bloggers love???  Food bloggers love to try new foodie things.  We just do, that’s a fact.  I might even try liver if it was offered to me…no never mind, scratch that!!  But when I had the opportunity to try Girard’s Salad Dressings, I didn’t even have to think about it!  When I learned that they had partnered with Epicurious to create Everyday Elegance, it was even better!

The first thing I did was take pictures of the dressings, because they were so pretty all lined up!   Which do you prefer??

Overexposed, but still totally cool, or more normal:

 

Then, after carrying my dressings around all over the house and photographing them, I settled in on finding a recipe.  The dressings came with some recipe cards and that seemed like a fine a way to start.  I immediately settled on Apple Chicken Salad because I had some leftover rotisserie chicken in the fridge.   I had everything I needed to make it except for the cheddar cheese, which I just left off.  Very good!!!  The dressing was light and flavorful, not overly sweet, and I really like the combination of the cabbage and the salad greens.  

Apple Chicken Salad

• 1/2 cup Girard’s Apple Poppyseed Vinaigrette
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped dates or other dried fruit (I used apricots)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chopped cabbage
• 4 cups mixed salad greens
• 1/4 cup peels of age white cheddar (or not, if you don’t have it!)

Preheat oven to 350 and roast nuts on a baking sheet for 5 to 7 minutes, until toasted (or use a dry skillet, which is what I always do).  Cool and chop.

Mix with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, toss to combine.  Serve with the cheese on top.

Serves 4-6

Are you still reading???  OF COURSE YOU ARE, you are waiting to hear about the giveaway, aren’t you?  Well, 2 lucky people will receive 3 dressing flavors and the signature Champagne dressing!!!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post.  You can leave extra comments if you tweet about it, or Facebook it, or blog about it.  I will randomly choose two comments on Monday, July 26th at 12 noon EST in the US.  (Also this is only open to US residents). 

 

This is why I will not be doing any professional food photography – don’t you love how I cut off their name.  Yeah, I got talent.

And besides having this fabulous giveaway, I am also entering this post into some events, because I am a genius multi-tasker.

 

This will be my entry for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!

 

And for  Souper Sundays (Soup, Salad, or Sammie) hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.