Grilled Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Grilled Chicken Salad served on croissants, even lettuce leaves or endive boats are the perfect way to have something a little different as an option for your guests, and still keep it in the theme of a cookout.

Compensation was provided by Gallo Family Vineyards. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Gallo Family Vineyards.

Today I am joined by Gallo Family Vineyards to celebrate all things summer.

Summer is officially upon us!

Okay, well maybe technically summer doesn’t start for another week or so, but the heat has arrived and most of the kids are out of school. The neighborhood pools are open and busy and as I walk through the neighborhood in the late afternoons the aromas of back yard grills waft through the air.

I always say that I love winter and autumn the best, but really, there are things about summer I love as well.

Being able to sit outside in the fresh air and sunshine while enjoying a cookout with your friends is real treat, and certainly something to look forward to. I don’t know about you, but we don’t need a holiday to get together for those potlucks and cookouts.

We create excuses to get together…and sometimes we don’t even bother with the excuses. We get together just because we can.

When you’re planning your outdoor, summer cookouts there are a few things to keep in mind. One of them would be to make sure to keep the cold things cold and the hot things hot. The hot part often isn’t too difficult, but how do you keep the potato salad and other things cold?

I have a couple ways you can do that.

First, place your potato salad or other cold food, in the dish that you are going to serve it in. Then, take a bowl that is slightly larger, and layer some ice in the bottom of it. Rest the serving bowl in the ice and tadaa! Your dish is nice and chilly.

If you have several dishes that need to stay cold, you can get a large baking pan and fill it with ice. Then you can nest two or three dishes in the ice together.

Don’t have an extra dish? Or, don’t want the extra dish or baking pan to show? There’s another way to “sneakily” keep your dish cool.

On the table where you are going to set up your food spread, designate a particular area for the cold dishes. Go into your pantry and get several large zip-closed storage bags (gallon or 2 gallon sized). Fill them with ice. I recommend double bagging these to make sure there are no leaks. Go to your serving table and lay the bags of ice down where you are going to have the cold food. Lay your table cloth across the table, covering the bags of ice. Now grab your cold dishes and gently nestle them down into the bags of ice. It looks like you have elevated the dishes to show them off and make the table look pretty, but really you are keeping the food cold with those hidden bags of ice.

Whichever method you use to keep your cold dishes cold, always make certain to monitor them and make sure the ice hasn’t completely melted and that the food is staying cold. The last thing that you want is for your celebration to turn into a disaster!

When you invite your guests over for that summer cookout, believe it or not, there are people who don’t care for burgers or bratwurst or barbecued things. That’s okay! Today I am sharing a recipe for a light and delicious summery sandwich that still puts that grill to good use and will make your guests happy as well.

To begin, fillet 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in half. Lightly coat both sides with  extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Cook the chicken fillets on the grill for just a few minutes on each side, until the chicken is cooked through.

When the chicken is cooked set it in a dish and let it cool to room temperature.

Dice the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. Set that aside for now.

Finely mince a shallot.

Finely dice 2 stalks of celery.

Finely chop 1/2 cup of fresh parsley and about 1/3 cup of fresh cilantro.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of olive oil mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of milk, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground tri-colored pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 3 tablespoon of whole grain Dijon mustard, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper along with the chopped herbs, celery and shallot. Stir it all together.

Add in your diced chicken and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Serve your chicken salad with croissants, lettuce or endive leaves – whichever you prefer.

Enjoy!

When you have your cookout, make sure to have a good selection of beverage to go with your feast. I recommend pairing the chicken salad sandwiches with Gallo Family Vineyard’s Moscato or the Cabernet Sauvignon. If your guests prefer a white wine, the Moscato is ideal for them… it also happens to be one of my favorites.

If your guests prefer a red wine, the Cabernet Sauvignon is the one! I chose these wines because they are both what I would call a “crisp” wine. They are light and summery – perfect for a get-together on a hot summer day.

I love that you can find many of Gallo Family’s wines in the packs of single-serve bottles. They are perfect for get-togethers and potlucks. There’s no corkscrew needed and they can easily tuck into a picnic basket.

You can connect with Gallo Family Vineyards on their Website

Did You Make This Recipe? I would love for you to rate it in the recipe card, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!