How to Make 3 Salads with Leftover Turkey
What's In Your Refrigerator? A Trio of Tasty Takes on Turkey Salad
Nov 15, 2008
A salad for a lunch or light dinner is a wonderful way to stretch leftover turkey of chicken. (Any of these recipes will work as well with cooked chicken.) If you have a favorite recipe for cooked chicken, consider adapting it to cooked turkey. Here are three possible candidates:
- Turkey & Bean Salad with Fresh Cranberry Dressing
- Avocado Stuffed with Turkey Salad
- Presto Pesto Pasta Salad with Turkey & Goat Cheese
A word of caution about leftover turkey or chicken. You know about the dangers of salmonella from improperly handling raw poultry. You're not home free just because now it's cooked. Read about “How to Safely Store and Use Leftover Turkey”.
Turkey & Bean Salad with Fresh Cranberry Dressing
Yield: 4-6 servings
The cranberry relish that serves as the central component in the dressing is dead easy to make. If you make it up for your Thanksgiving dinner, this follow-on salad will be just that much easier.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup “Fresh Cranberry Relish” (see recipe below)
- 3 Tbsp cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
- 2 cups cubed cooked turkey or chicken
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cups frozen corn, thawed and drained
- 15-oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- spinach leaves to line the plates
Preparation:
- In small bowl, combine cranberry relish, vinegar, oil, chili powder and pepper and blend well with wire whisk to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- Combine chicken, celery, bell pepper, corn, and beans in large bowl and toss gently.
- Pour dressing over chicken mixture and toss gently to mix.
- Serve salad on spinach-lined plates.
Fresh Cranberry Relish
The fresh taste of this “chewed” cranberry relish is a great alternative to the gelatinous cranberry sauce that usually accompanies turkey dinners.
- 12 ounce bag fresh cranberries
- 2 whole oranges, quartered
- 1/2 cup sugar
Toss all into a food processor and process until well “chewed” but not puréed. You still want some texture.
Avocado Stuffed with Turkey Salad
Yield: 2 servings, but indubitably doublable for 4, triple without trouble for 6, etc.
The turkey salad in this recipe could just as easily be served as a sandwich filling. You could even dice the avocado and add it to the turkey salad to make what would inevitably be dubbed a “California Turkey Salad Sandwich.” When it comes to recipes, avocado makes a recipe California nearly as strongly as spinach makes a recipe Florentine.
For mayonnaise, stick with Best Foods (sold as Hellman's in some regions) unless you're making your own. The flavor is consistently a quantum leap above any other.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup diced cooked turkey breast
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp orange zest, minced
- 1 Tbsp chopped scallion, white part only
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh or roasted red bell pepper
- 1 tsp chopped fresh chives
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
- 2 cup-shaped leaves radicchio
Method:
- In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, mayonnaise, orange zest, scallion, red pepper and chives. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Place a radicchio leaf on each plate and nestle an avocado half inside it. Divide the chicken salad between the two avocado halves, filling the cavity.
Pesto Pasta Salad with Turkey & Goat Cheese
Yield: 6 servings
Store-bought pesto makes this salad a snap. Penne is a good choice for this salad, but bowties or any pasta that leaves room for the other ingredients to mix in will work well, too. Not spaghetti or linguine.
Ingredients:
- 1½ cups penne (or other) pasta
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cut in strips or cubed
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 1½ cups prepared pesto
- 6 ounces goat cheese, crumbled into large pieces
- 2 ounces toasted pine nuts
Directions:
- Cook pasta until al dente, drain well and turn into a large bowl.
- Sprinkle the pasta with olive oil and toss to coat.
- Fold into the pasta until well combined: the turkey, pepper slices and pesto.
- Divide the mixture between individual serving plates. Top each with crumbled goat cheese and a sprinkle of pine nuts.
You may also be interested in these other ideas on How to Love Leftover Turkey or Chicken, including:
- Sweet Potato Turkey Hash Benedict
- Easy Turkey Florentine
- Crustless Turkey Quiche
- Turkey Minestra
- Cream of Chicken (or Turkey) and Wild Mushroom Soup
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