Basil-Lemon Chicken Salad

I have two girlfriends in LA who are also pregnant with little boys due in October.  We have so much fun getting together every month or so to talk and share our experience with one another.  It's such a blessing having these ladies in my life during this time!

For our last get together, I invited the girls over to relax poolside, and I cooked up a light summertime lunch menu for us to enjoy while we talked.  This basil-lemon chicken salad was by far my favorite thing that I served.  By roasting bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts in the oven instead of boiling boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the stove top, the chicken came out perfectly moist.  Roasting versus boiling takes a little more time and effort, but it is SO worth it.

Instead of making chicken salad sandwiches, I decided to serve the salad in tomato cups, which not only added a pop of color, but was delicious to eat with the chicken salad inside.  You, of course, do not have to take this extra step.  This chicken salad would be great on bread or just eaten with whole-wheat crackers (which is how I ate all the leftovers!).  But, it does make for a great presentation!

Basil-Lemon Chicken Salad

3 lbs. bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (this should yield approximately 4 cups of diced chicken)

1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil mayo

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the chicken breasts on a cookie sheet, skin-side up.  Drizzle the breasts with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until done.  Allow the chicken to cool while you prepare the remaining ingredients.  Once cooled, remove the chicken from the bone, and dice into bite-size pieces.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayo, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, basil and green onions.  Stir to combine.  Add the chicken and mix well.  Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.  To make the tomato cups, I used tomatoes-on-the-vine because I liked their size, not too big and not to small.  Cut off the tops and discard.  Using a paring knife, cut around the inside of the tomato to release the ribs from the sides.  Use a spoon to scoop out the remaining seeds, flesh and ribs.  Finally, stuff the tomatoes full of the chilled chicken salad.