Chicken Salad Sandwich on Croissant

I had two friends over for lunch.  I served the pineapple macadamia nut cake I wrote about the other day.  That was good, but sweet, and you always need to pair a sweet with a savory. I love sandwiches served on a croissant, but that is too big for a tea party kind of lunch.  Luckily the grocery store had some mini croissants for sale.  How many?  Why, twelve of course!

1 dozen mini croissants
3/4 pound chicken breast
2 Tablespoons Craisins
2 Tablespoons walnuts
1 stalk celery
1 Tablespoon red onion, diced small
1 Tablespoon thinly sliced cilantro leaves
5 Tablespoons mayonnaise, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled, optional

 

I bought a large slice of chicken breast from the deli in the supermarket.  You could also buy a whole cooked chicken from the deli or just cook some chicken breast, but the easiest and cleanest way is to just buy a thick slice from the deli.  Slice the outside brown part off.  The dog and cat will love that part.

 

Slice the breast into strips and then dice it up.  Then chop through the chicken again so you have very small diced pieces.

 

I wanted a bit of Craisins, but I worried about them sticking to the knife. 

 


So I chopped the Craisins and walnuts together and that worked really well.  Next time I might even increase the amounts to Three Tablespoons each.  They added a nice crunch and a bit of sweetness.

 

Peel the strings off the celery and cut it into strips.  Chop the strips into more small diced pieces.

Thinly slice a few slices of red onion.  Chop them small.

Pull the cilantro leaves off the stems and slice them thinly.

 

Place all the above ingredients in a large bowl and mix with the mayo to taste.  You don't want it too goopy.  Add salt and pepper to taste

Slice open the croissants horizontally.  Try not to slice all the way through.  Then you can open them like a clam shell and they stay together for plating and eating.

Place several generous Tablespoons of chicken salad on each croissant.  Distribute it in the semi circle so that it isn't falling out.  Tidiness is important in a tea party, you know, said the queen with her pinky in the air.

 

If you desire, sprinkle a teaspoon or so of bacon crumbles on top of each sandwich.  This adds a wonderful smoky flavor and a nice crunch.  I didn't mix it in, because the bacon would absorb the mayo and become soggy.  And who likes soggy bacon?  Well, the British.  But what do they know about tea parties??? (Insert smiley face here.)