Who needs mayo or bread? (No mayo italian chicken salad lettuce wraps)

The first line of this post from the Kitchn grabbed me, "This is chicken salad for the mayonnaise-hating crowd" Hi, Kitchn, how do you know all my weird food secrets?  I just don't like mayo.  I just can't.  I can taste it when it's there and you can't hide it from me.  I just hate it.  I also hate pickles, shrimp and Adele.  It makes me out to be not a fun guest at parties with a shrimp salad and a pop Pandora station.  

But I want to love chicken salad.  I am a sorority girl from the South, it is what luncheons are made of down here.  One of the lunches at my Delta Gamma convention was just chicken salad.  I ate the bread.  I don't eat bread on the reg, and in fact cannot remember the last time I bought it.  I do remember the last time I made it, though!

To my rescue comes this Italian chicken salad.  It sounded so good, and trust me, it was.  The flavors meld so well, the vinaigrette holds it together okay and the crunch of the added zucchini and lettuce wrap are amazing.  This is a great low carb, dairy free treat.  I had it for lunch over 4 days in a week. It got better by the day! Make this for yourself, you will not regret it!  Full recipe to follow.

Take that mayo and carbs!

I broke out my fancy oilive oil I got at Eataly.  I think it made a difference. I made my own roasted red peppers.  I could not let the peppers in my Costco veggie tray go to waste!

I have a good tutorial on how to do this (and a really yummy recipe) on the blog here.

Making dressing is easy.  Add to a plastic container...

And shake it (like a salt shaker, polaroid picture, senora, whatever your fancy)

The recipe said the skin didn't need to brown, but what do they know?!

This sure is a colorful dish!  Makes me feel healthy!

I wanted to eat the skin so bad, but I refained.  Well I did have just one bite.  And so did Ginger.

At some point bacon was made too.  Throw it all in, combine and serve.  You can have bread.  And slather it with mayo too.  Just don't invite me over for lunch!

Italian Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups (inspired by the Kitchn)
1 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breast
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped shallot
1 stalk chopped celery
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted red pepper

1 small zucchini, chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Handful of chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Rub some olive oil over the chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on how thick the breast is. The skin does not need to brown; you just want the meat to cook through. Let cool slightly, then peel away the skin and shred the meat.  Drizzle the chicken with a bit of the juices from the pan, just to keep it moist.  Combine the shallot, celery, red pepper, almonds, parsley, and shredded chicken and bacon in a large bowl. To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper. Stream in the olive oil, whisking vigorously, until combined. Pour the vinaigrette over the chicken salad and toss to coat. Serve in pieces of butter lettuce or romaine.

Happy Cooking!

Missy