insalata di pollo con labneh / chicken salad with labneh

Roasting a whole chicken for two means having a certain amount of leftovers (avanzi). Making chicken salad with avanzi di pollo arrosto is not really creative, but using labneh to season it is probably not as common as using, say, maionese (mayonnaise).

Why labneh? Because of a photo of it that I saw in this post by Lucy of Nourish Me. The image of a snow-white ball nestled in white cheesecloth stayed with me and inspired me to follow the instructions on this page and get my own snow-white mass of labneh. I decided to be daring and used non-fat, organic yogurt.

The process of draining yogurt to make labneh was a bit messy. Hanging the wrap of cheesecloth and cloth inside the fridge required the building of a contraption that made access to a section of the fridge difficult for 24 hours, not an ideal situation. Next time I'll be better prepared, and I will use only cloth.

Fortunately, the contraption worked and I got my mass of soft, creamy, deliciously tart labneh. Having never tasted labneh before, I have no idea how my rendition compares to the real thing, but I am not worried: in any case, I like the result of my effort.

The first thing I did with it is sprinkle its surface with slivered fresh basil (basilico). I made a tomato sauce to go with it and the pairing was wonderful. Then came the pollo arrosto, and its leftovers, and the idea of using some labneh as an ingredient of my insalata di pollo.

The chicken being quite tasty of its own, I didn't add much to the salad: a rib of celery, finely chopped; a handful of toasted walnuts, finely chopped as well; a few leaves of lavender mint (menta) and pineapple sage (salvia) fresh from my garden, plus some more basil (besides that already on the labneh), all finely slivered; and a generous sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper. I spooned some labneh over the diced chicken until the balance of flavors seemed right. The salad made a satisfying dinner.

Warning: I am actually not done with the aftermath of the pollo arrosto, so expect another post on the subject.

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Readers of this and many other blogs have learned that Sher of What Did You Eat? died recently of a heart attack. In memory of Sher, Lia of Swirling Notions has organized an online fund raising for WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. Visit this page to find out the details of Lia's initiative.

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insalata di pollo con labneh

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Comments

[Susan from Food Blogga]

This is terrific, Simona. And you have another post coming? That must have been one seriously meaty chicken. :)

[Paz]

Very nice. I love the idea of this chicken salad. I may be able to have your roasted chicken today. Maybe. Wish me luck. ;-)

Paz

[Kalyn]

Love the sound of your chicken salad with Labneh, very creative. I bet it's delicious!

[Lucy]

Thing I love about labneh is that it's so creamy. Even when you use the kind that's lowest in fat it's still cool and, well creamy! So pleased you liked it - and very pleased to have inspired you to discover the joy for yourself!

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

Your chicken salad sounds delicious Simona. All those flavors!!! I just did a post on the ingredient you didn't use, mayonnaise. hehe

I didn't know about labneh. Now I am very interested to try it.

[Simona Carini]

If I remember correctly it was a bit more than 4 lbs, Susan.

Good luck, Paz. I am sure the roast chicken will come.

Thanks Kalyn, the pairing was indeed very nice. To be repeated.

That's so true, Lucy: it is incredibly creamy and tastes fresh in the mouth, with the right amount of tang. Thanks again for inspiring me.

Very nice post on JC's mayonnaise. I hope you try labneh: let me know if you do.

[Zlamushka]

THat lunch idea sounds delish. Hung yoghurt and basilico with shredded chicken... I am hungreeee :-)
Btw, I hope you are participating this month´s Tried And Tasted, we are cooking from Jugalbandi(ts).

[Bellini Valli]

It's funny how we hear of something and then it pops up all over the place. I saw labneh at a Mediterranean market the other day for the first time and wondered what it was. They make their own.

[Simona]

Hi Zlamushka. Thanks for the note. I'd like to participate, time permitting.

Hi Valli. Funny, indeed. Making labneh is really easy and very satisfying.

[Lisa]

Hey, I just found this while searching for info on labneh! It looks beautiful, as does the salad. I love the basil on top, wow. I must try making some myself; thanks for the inspiration.

[Simona]

It's very easy to make and so satisfying to use. I hope you give it a try, Lisa.