Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Two-for-Tuesday - Lemonade and Lemon Tarragon Chicken Salad

Real Food is the theme as always at 2-for-Tuesday. This week, I thought I would focus on lemons.



They are basic fruits that can be used in so many dishes, so diverse. You can make a simple refreshing drink for summer enjoyment. After squeezing fresh lemons for a drink...do you still have lemons left? Prepare a cold lemon tarragon chicken salad.



Let's start with the lemonade!

Freshly Squeezed lemonade



Simple natural ingredients..........

1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup boiling water
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 ½ cups fresh lemon juice (about 8 large lemons)
5 cups water

Stir together 1 ½ cups sugar ½ cup boiling water until sugar is dissolved. Stir in lemon rind, lemon juice and 5 cups of water. Cover and chill.



If it’s a party and you enjoy cold vodka, employ the lemon in an adult beverage such as a Lemon Drop Martini. We opted for the non-boozy glass of lemonade.




Lemon Tarragon Chicken Salad

Easy and here are the ingredients you'll need.........

½ cup chopped pecans
¾ cup mayo or less if you don’t like a real mayonnasiey salad.
1 TB fresh tarragon (when fresh isn’t available use 1 ½ tsp. dried)
1 TB lemon juice
Salt and pepper
3 cups cooked chopped chicken
1 celery stalk, slice it fine (if you have celery-haters in the house. They won’t notice it in the salad but it does impart a necessary element)
½ small onion, chop it fine


Simple. Arrange pecan pieces on a baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 5 minutes. Cool them on a wire rack for about 15 minutes.

Chop chicken into bits..........



Whisk mayo with tarragon, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Gently fold in chopped chicken, celery and onion and some of the pecans. Sprinkle remaining pecans atop the salad for good looks.

If you saved any lemon slices, garnish your salad with a few juicy looking slices.



A croissant is a natural marriage with this salad....buttery goodness.



Surf over and join the carnival blog hop for Two-for-Tuesday!

24TbadgeGIRLICHEF


21 comments:

  1. My kids drink way too much lemonade - the powdered kind. I am going to start making this fresh drink for them. Thanks for linking it to Two for Tuesdays!

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  2. I love lemons and how versatile they are! This lemonade sounds so refreshing and the chicken salad sounds like a perfect summer-time lunch! Thanks for sharing this with us at Two for Tuesdays this week!

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  3. Are you kidding me? No need for a party...bring on the vodka!! LOL...I'd drink it either way. And DROOL, this chicken salad is in the hiz-ous. (sorry, I'm halfway through a bottle of wine...but I mean every word!! Liquid truth). Plus, it's on a croissant, so really, I could chow it right now and smile for the rest of the night ;) Thanks for sharing with Two for Tuesdays, my friend!

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  4. I love homemade lemonade and could probably drink the whole pitcher, with or without the vodka (either way is good for me).

    Love the chicken salad on croissants. Tarragon is an herb that I don't use enough!

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  5. I love homemade lemonade ... I made a lot whe the girls were little, and your recipe takes me back to those nice souvenirs!

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  6. Love fresh lemonade...This is a perfect summers day meal:)

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  7. My life would be nowhere near complete without lemons...I use them constantly. This chicken salad looks fantastic! I love tarragon.

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  8. Your chicken salad sounds delicious! I posted one today but I believe your version with the pecans beats it! Way to go!

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  9. Tarragon, mayo, chicken, lemon and croissants?!? - there IS a god and he does gourmet!!

    Skype - free Internet phoning :oD

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  10. Here you go ;o) http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/home

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  11. Christy - Oh go ahead and make it! It was funa nd the kids can help.

    Bethany - Thank you, I was very happy to be invited to this blog carnival :-)

    Girlichef - I believe in the Liquid Truth...it's actually a commandment at Squirrel Head Manor. Oh, and I do enjoy a Lemon Drop. Yowl!!

    Kim - Ain't it the truth...a good picher of lemonade is gone in seconds! I use more of the dried tarragon than fresh, believe it or not but the frsh has too much licorice taste for me and Doug.

    Laura - It sure does take me back to my mom's method of making it, childhood memories.

    Magic of Spice - Thank you so much and thanks for following. I will be greeting you in my next post!

    Joanne - I try to keep leomns in the kitchen, they are good for almost all recipes,

    Pam - The pecans really did make a diffeence. Toasting them was easy peasy :-)

    Jo - The salad went fast at our house. An easy one to toss together...I am off to check out that skype link!

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  12. thanks so much for the kind comment on my blog wow this chicken salad is amazing great flavors

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  13. Hi tina! These recipes are so summery! You know, if you want that lemonade to be fizzy, add 3 tbs of whey liquid to the mix, put it in a bottle on the counter for a day or two and it will sparkle like water kefir! Thanks for sharing this on the two for tuesday recipe blog hop! Alex@amoderatelife

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  14. Rebecca - I LOVE your blog!

    Alex - thanks so much for the tip. I did not know that about whey liquid. Cool!

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  15. I can't grow tarragon for poo, but my neighbor has a very successful patch and is constantly giving me some. In fact, I have a bunch wilting away in the fridge at the moment, guess how I'm going to use it? Thank you for bringing lemons to the blog hop at Two for Tuesdays!

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  16. ButterPoweredBike - I can't grow tarragon either. Deer eat everything here!
    Glad you liked the lemons - I need to go buy more. Thanks for your nice comments :-)

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