TGIFriday's Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

photo by Raspberri_Skies




- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 21
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
-
Pecan-Crusted Chicken
- 4 skinless chicken breast halves
- 1⁄2 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1⁄2 cup corn flake crumbs
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 cup canola oil
-
Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1⁄3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 4 teaspoons Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
-
Salad
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1⁄2 cup finely chopped pecans
- 12 cups romaine lettuce, chopped (2 heads)
- 1 cup celery, sliced (2 ribs)
- 2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
- 1⁄2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
directions
- Make the pecan-crusted chicken first since it is served cold.
- Pound each chicken fillet to about 1/2-inch thick. You can do this easily by covering each chicken breast in plastic wrap, and pounding with a kitchen mallet.
- Combine 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, corn flake crumbs, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl.
- Combine milk with beaten eggs in another shallow bowl.
- Dump the flour into another shallow bowl.
- Bread each chicken breast by coating each with flour.
- Dip the flour-dusted chicken into the egg mixture.
- Coat the chicken with a thick coating of the pecans and corn flake crumbs.
- Preheat 1/2 cup canola oil in a large skillet over medium/low heat.
- When the oil is hot, saute the chicken fillets for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Cool chicken on a rack or paper-towels.
- When you can handle the chicken, cover it and refrigerate it for at least two hours.
- As the chicken chills, you can make the balsamic vinaigrette by combining 1 cup canola oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp salt in a blender.
- Blend on low speed for just a few seconds, or until the dressing begins to thicken. Don't blend too long or your vinaigrette will get too thick, like mayonnaise.
- Pour vinaigrette into a small bowl and mix in minced garlic.
- Chill this until you're ready to use it.
- When you're ready to build your salad, toss lettuce and celery with about 3/4 cup of the balsamic vinaigrette.
- Arrange the lettuce on four plates, then sprinkle the cranberries over the lettuce (about 1/4 cup per serving).
- Combine the 3 tablespoons of brown sugar with 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the mixture on each salad.
- Sprinkle about 1/2 can of drained mandarin orange segments over each salad, followed by about 2 tablespoons of crumbled bleu cheese.
- Slice each chicken fillet into thin strips. Arrange one sliced chicken fillet on top of each salad and serve.
Reviews
-
This recipe is almost exactly like Friday's salad. I followed it except for the pecan/brown sugar mix. TGIFriday's uses glazed pecans so I melted a tablespoon of butter and about 1/2 cup brown sugar ( not packed) in a pan added about a cup of pecans and a tiny bit of water and let those cook until they were glazed. Thanks for a great recipe!! Edited to add I had three fairly large chicken breasts so I need a little more breading then the recipe calls for. Next time to be sure I will just start with 1 1/2 times the amount called for, for the breading. The egg/milk mixture could be halved.