Not Your Everyday Chicken

I absolutely love to cook, and this chicken salad recipe has become one of my go-to recipes for when we have people over - or we need to bring something appetizer like to a party.  I've made some adjustments to the recipe as printed in the Williams and Sonoma Fix it Fast Small Plates cookbook to make it a little bit easier, healthier(maybe) and less expensive to do at home, as well as taking into account our preferences.

Chicken Salad Recipe:

3-4 Boneless skinless Chicken Thighs

1/2 a fennel Bulb

1 1/2 t Lemon Juice

1/2 t Lemon Pepper

2-3 green onions

1/3 cup reduced fat Mayonnaise

1/2 t tarragon

1 Baguette

Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice the bread, put it on a cookie sheet, brush one side with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Heat a pan on the stove to medium high, sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and put it in the pan.  I usually end up flipping it several times, but I often start with frozen chicken, so it takes a bit longer.   (I don't put any oil in the pan, because the chicken thighs provide enough of their own.

While the chicken is cooking, chop the fennel finely, as well as the white and pale green parts of the green onions.  Combine these ingredients with the lemon juice, lemon pepper, mayonnaise and tarragon and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.  Let it sit while the chicken cools off some.  As soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle, chop it into small pieces and add it to the fennel mixture. 

Finally - drop spoonfuls of the chicken salad onto the toast pieces.  You're done.