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Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto

Olive Sunshine’s healthy Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto is ideal for summer. Light and tangy with a hint of sweetness, this is not your everyday chicken salad. Craisins add a subtle sweetness that is refreshing and pairs well with the tanginess of the dressing. The fresh green of the basil is summertime at its finest. Making wraps with Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto is perfect for a summertime picnic.

What makes the dressing of the Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto unique is the use of yogurt. I use Kite Hill’s plain almond yogurt (but any plain, no sugar added yogurt is fine). Almond yogurt has a super mild flavor. When the yogurt is whisked with fresh-squeezed lemon juice it creates a deliciously light dressing which I vastly prefer over mayonnaise. Now I admit, I really do not care for mayonnaise, but this is not just about my preference. The Mediterranean Diet outlines fewer eggs, less meat and more plants and grains (see pyramid) Since the wrap’s main ingredient is the chicken, this is a simple way to lighten it up.

Focusing on Whole Grains

Adding a whole wheat tortilla to wrap your salad is an easy way for a complete meal. Whole grains are an essential part of the Mediterranean Diet. Stacey’s Organic Wheat Tortillas have been my go-to-choice. I do wish they would make some with extra virgin olive oil instead of sunflower, but otherwise they are perfect (I keep hoping the folks at Stacey’s will read my blog!!). I could make my own, but I have not yet found the perfect recipe to yield the thin evenly cooked tortillas. If any Olive Sunshine readers have a winning wheat tortilla recipe do share! Never fear, I am continuing to practice. But I digress. Back to the Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto.

To Add Pesto or Not to Add Pesto to Your Chicken Salad Wraps?

It was a hard decision for me, pesto or no pesto? On the one hand, adding pesto to an already deliciously tangy, sweet, and light chicken salad may be unnecessary. On the other hand, I love that Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto adds greens. (Yes, I use a ton of basil!). It makes this wrap a complete Mediterranean Diet meal. But I promise while health is a consideration, taste wins out here. The pesto does not overpower the chicken salad in anyway. Instead it just adds a summery freshness the compliments the sweetness of the craisins.

5-Minute Vegan Basil-Lemon Pesto

My decision to make the pesto a permanent part of the recipe came about at a beachside picnic. All who tried these chicken salad wraps said they did not really taste the pesto. But they each loved the wrap describing it as very fresh. I know it is the fresh flavor of the basil and lemon in the pesto they are tasting. Understated perfection!

What Makes the Chicken Salad with Craisins so Moist?

I poach the chicken. That is my simple secret to having such deliciously moist chicken. It is an extra step, but it is an easy step, and the outcome makes it entirely worth it. I have become fond of poaching chicken ever since I prepared it that way for my Healthy Chicken Avocado Taco Salad. There is nothing worse than dry, bland chicken. Poaching chicken in veggie or chicken broth, with fresh veggies and herbs is the ideal method to prepare your chicken for a flavorful wrap. It is also an excellent use of the stems of your favorite herbs like cilantro or basil. I may add some leaves, but the stems were not going to be used otherwise. My house smells so delicious when poaching as the stems of the herbs add so much aromatic flavor to the meat.

Grilled Vegetable and Pesto Flatbread

Make Ahead Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto

Chicken Salad Wraps with Craisins and Pesto is easy to prepare in advance. Both the pesto and the chicken salad will keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. If using in a wrap, I suggest you do not assemble the wraps until the day you will be eating them. They are perfect to bring along on a picnic or just to pack for lunch at work if you are feeling snazzy! One 8-inch tortilla yields two wraps, cut in half. Because these are so filling, one really will be enough. The serving size allows for two. Why? Chicken Salad with Craisins and Pesto are delicious and while one is enough you may want two and it is healthy enough to indulge.

Make Ahead Prep To-Go Meal Idea

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5/5

4 servings

35 minutes

Ingredients

Cooking the Chicken

3 cups of water

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

1 sweet onion peeles and cut into quarters

1 large handful of cilantro stalks and leaves (parsley or basil could be used instead)

1 lemon (squeeze the juice out and reserve for the dressing)

1 pound skinless, bonelss chicken breasts, each cut in half

Chicken Salad

2/3 cups of yogurt (I use almond)

The juice of 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon of white pepper

1/3 cups of Craisins (no-sugar added)

2 large stalks of celery, thinly sliced

4 scallions (greens only) small diced

3/4 cups of pesto (jarred or Olive Sunshine’s easy fresh recipe)

Instructions

In a large pot, add the water, chicken broth, onion, cilantro leaves/stalks and lemon (with the juice reserved for the dressing). Place on high heat and bring to a boil.

While the broth heats, pat the chicken dry with a paper towel and salt and pepper both sides. One the broth is boiling, add the chicken. Cook for 7-9 minutes until cooked through.

Pour the chicken and vegetables through a colander. Keep the chicken and onion. Set aside to cool. Dispose of the rest of the vegetables.

While the chicken is cooling. Mix the yogurt, juice of the lemon, white pepper, cilantro, craisins, celery and scallions in a large bowl. Cover the dressing and place in the refridgerator until the chicken is cool.

If making your own pesto, mix now (5 minute recipe below).

Once the chicken and onions have cooled, add them both to a food processor and lightly pulse. This will “shred” the chicken. Do not over-pulse as the chicken will be mushy. Shredding the chicken can also be done by hand.

Add the shredded chicken and onion mixture to the dressing. If serving in a wrap, start with one warmed 8-ounce tortilla, add 1.5 tablespoons of the pesto to the wrap as a base and top with 4 ounces of chicken salad. Roll the tortilla into a wrap and cut in half. Will make 8 chicken salad wraps.

Olive Sunshine 5-Minute Vegan Basil-Lemon Pesto