Roasting is the trick for Autumn Harvest Chicken Salad

THREE RIVERS AREA — Chicken-salad likes and dislikes can be about as individual as eye color, yet that is the appeal of the dish: You can create, add, take away, or combine just about any flavors and textures to make it your own.

It is fall, and chicken salad is the perfect dish in which to inject your seasonal cravings. From apples and roasted pecans to walnuts and cranberries and a tangy dressing, this salad is easy, serves plenty of folks and has just the right amount of tweaks to make it a new favorite.

Roasting is the trick for this chicken salad. It brings out a layer of flavors, a depth of richness that only this cooking technique can achieve. I lather the thin chicken cutlets with olive oil, sun-dried tomatoesand garlic, then season with cracked salt and pepper. These thin cuts of meat roast quickly at 400 degrees and make the house smell as if you’ve been cooking for days. The roasting process brings about the natural sweetness of the tomatoes and garlic, too, which find a nice complement in the simplicity of the salt and pepper. The same goes for the pecans and walnuts; the roasting brings out the oil, the nuts’ natural essence, and it’s simply amazing how a little time in the oven can transform these nuts.

The apples I like to use for this salad are Pink Lady, but Honeycrisp, Fuji or any other fine-tasting apple will do just fine (avoid mealy apples - they are better for baking and cooking). Chop the apples and all the other elements into bite-size pieces approximately the same size; it makes the salad easier to mix and eat.

The dressing is my go-to chicken-salad dressing, which I tweak seasonally, with perhaps a bit of parsley in winter and spring or some thyme in summer. Dried cranberries add a nice seasonal note here.

This is one of the best and easiest chicken salads you will ever make.

Serve the salad by itself or with crackers, or use a hearty bread to make sandwiches.

THE FARMER’S AUTUMN HARVEST CHICKEN SALAD

Note: Cooks may alter the measurements to suit their taste.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients: 1 pound thinly sliced chicken cutlets 1 cup small or chopped pecans 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/2 cup dried cranberries 2-4 apples of your liking 1 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or lemon juice 1/3 cup honey (use good local honey if you can) 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

3-4 tablespoons sundered tomato

garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lay chicken cutlets on a lightly

greased roasting pan and drizzle

with olive oil, spread with sundered

tomato garlic, and season with salt

and pepper.

Roast for about 10 to 12 minutes

or until juices run clear and meat is

white throughout.

Roast nuts in a skillet or on a

cookie sheet in the oven, just until

they darken a bit.

Watch them carefully! If you start

to smell them, then you’re almost

too late. Remove nuts and chicken

from the oven and allow to cool.

Combine mayo, honey, vinegar,

sesame seeds and seasoning in a

lidded Mason jar and shake until

mixed thoroughly.

Core and chop apples. Squirt

some lemon juice on them to keep

them from turning brown.

Chop chicken; then combine

with apples, nuts and dried cran

berries. Pour dressing over and

mix well. You can always make a

bit more dressing if need be.

James T. Farmer III shares

his love of food, flowers and

photography on his blog All

Things Farmer. His book A

Time to Plant (Gibbs Smith) is

now available. Farmer’s story

appears on One for the Table,

Amy Ephron’s online magazine

that specializes in food, politics

and love (www.oneforthetable.

com).