Spring Chicken Salad Canapes

Mary DeAngelis

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 40–45 canapes

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 10–12 whole black peppercorns
  • Couple sprigs of dill
  • Couple sprigs of tarragon
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 lemons, divided
  • 1-1/2 cups mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup chopped chives
  • 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp chopped tarragon
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 scallion, cut in large pieces
  • 2-1/2 tsp salt, plus additional for seasoning
  • 2-1/2 tsp salt, plus additional for seasoning
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup roasted and salted sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup small diced red pepper
  • 1/2 cup small diced red onion
  • 24 slices of hearty white or whole grain bread
  • 1 14.5-oz can mandarin oranges, drained

Preparation

Place chicken in a wide and deep saucepan. Add water to cover an inch over chicken.

Place the peppercorns, sprigs of dill, tarragon, and bay leaves in the water.

Take one of the lemons and zest it. Hold on to the zest for later use.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the water. Place chicken on medium high heat until it comes up to a simmer. Bring to a slow simmer and let them cook until they are cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove them from the water and place them onto a plate, then discard the water.

While the chicken breasts are cooling, make the dressing by placing the mayonnaise, chopped chives, tarragon, garlic, scallion, 2-1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, and the reserved lemon zest into the bowl of a food processor.

Cut the remaining lemon in half and squeeze the lemon juice into the food processor, keeping seeds out of the mix.

Run the food processor until the mayonnaise begins to turn a light shade of green and the herbs are just tiny pieces, about 20–30 seconds.

Transfer the dressing into a large bowl and place the food processor back on the food processor base.

When the chicken has cooled completely, cut into large chunks and place into the food processor.

Process the chicken until it is a fine shred. Transfer the chicken into the bowl with the dressing. Add the chopped parsley, sunflower seeds, diced red peppers, and diced red onion. Stir until combined.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Using a 1 3/4–2" round cutter, cut 2–3 rounds out of each slice of bread.

Place rounds on 2 baking sheets and spray rounds with cooking spray.

Season with salt and pepper.

Place in oven and bake until toasted, about 10 minutes.

When rounds are cool, place about a tablespoon of chicken salad on each round and top each with a mandarin orange section.

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