When we lived in San Francisco we never got the chance to eat at Zuni Cafe. They have a roast chicken warm bread salad on their menu which we learned about from the Smitten Kitchen. We used the bread salad portion from that site and reworked the instructions to the order we make it. We are not including the roasted chicken recipe on this page as we have a different recipe we use for that and this can easily be made with a store-bought rotisserie chicken to help cut down on time.
Roast Chicken Warm Bread Salad
Servings: 2 – 4
Ingredients
- Roasted Chicken
- 1 tbsp Dried Currants
- 1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Pine Nuts
- Fresh Baguette
- 8 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 ½ tbsp Champagne Vinegar
- Salt & Pepper
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 4 Green Onion
- 2 tbsp Chicken Stock
- Arugula
Instructions
- Add currants, red wine vinegar, and 1 tbsp of water to a small bowl. Set aside and allow the currants to plump.
- Lightly toast the pine nuts in a small pan over medium heat. Careful not to let them burn.
- Cut the crust off the bread and roughly tear into 3-4 inch chunks.
- In a large bowl toss the bread pieces with 2 tbsp of olive oil so that the bread is lightly coated.
- Evenly spread the bread on a pan and broil for a few minutes so that the edges just start to turn brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- In a small bowl mix 4 tbsp of olive oil, champagne vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste.
- Return the toasted bread to a large bowl and add the vinaigrette mixture and toss to combine. Some pieces will be more wet than others. Add salt & pepper if needed.
- Mince the garlic and chop the green onion. Add to a small pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil and cook over a medium-low heat until soften. Add to the bowl with the bread.
- Drain the currants and add to the bread mixture.
- Add the toasted pine nuts and lightly fold all of the ingredients to combine.
- Slowly add and toss the chicken stock into the mixture.
- Using two pieces of aluminum foil add the mixture and tent.
- Place in the oven for 10-15 mins to warm the bread mixture.
- While the bread is in the oven, cut up the chicken and set aside. If the chicken is cold, add to some foil and place in the oven to warm it up.
- Remove the bread from oven and return to the large bowl while still warm.
- Toss the chicken and arugula into the bread salad and serve.
Notes
- You can use a store-bought rotisserie chicken or roast your own, here is an easy recipe for a buttermilk roast chicken
- The times listed above do not include the additional time if you are roasting your own chicken