Chicken Salad With Tarragon

Serving for 4 Persons

Ingredients

2 bunches of asparagus, trimmed of woody ends and cut diagonally into 2 inch (5cm) lengths

1 large roast chicken, or left-over roast chicken pieces

4 celery sticks, ends trimmed, thinly sliced diagonally

6 green shallots, ends trimmed, thinly sliced diagonally

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh tarragon, loosely packed

3 1/2 oz (lOOg) of toasted slivered almonds

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup of good-quality whole-egg mayonnaise

1/3 cup of sour cream

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

Lettuce leaves, to serve

Method

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the asparagus, and cook for 2 minutes, or until it has turned bright green and is tender crisp. Drain well, and then cool under cold running water.

2. Remove the bones from the cooked chicken, and discard the skin. Chop the chicken roughly and place in a large bowl with the asparagus. Add celery, and half of the tarragon, almonds and green shallots. Gently combine the ingredients then season with salt and pepper.

3. Mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, sour cream and remaining tarragon in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a third of this mixture to the chicken mixture and gently combine together.

4. Put the lettuce into a large serving bowl. Top with the chicken mixture and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Sprinkle the remaining green shallots and almonds on the top before serving.