“He walked to Stone Street where the Catholic church is and turned left, went past the Carriaga house, the Wilson house, the Zabala house, and turned left on Central Avenue at the Steinbeck house.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Inspiration
The Steinbeck House, John Steinbeck’s childhood home at 132 Central Avenue in Salinas is open for lunch and tours. The Valley Guild has published a cookbook with the much sought after lunch menu recipes, Steinbeck House Cookbook. A favorite is broccoli with chicken and a curry dressing, Poulet de Broccoli. I had thoughts of updating this Salinas classic and found inspiration in a salad I had at the The Portola Café at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My recipe is a major shift from casserole to salad, and from broccoli to lettuce, but both recipes include iconic Salinas Valley ingredients with chicken and a curry dressing.
Essentials
This recipe will make four main dish salads. I roast chicken breasts with the skin and ribs still attached with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. After they cool, I remove and discard the skin and ribs and shred the meat for my salads. Leftover or rotisserie chicken can be used instead. Once the chicken and bacon are prepared, the salad goes together very quickly.
| Ingredients | |
| Salad | |
| 1 head | red or green leaf lettuce or 5 oz baby lettuces |
| 8 slices | bacon, cooked and roughly chopped |
| 2 | chicken breasts, roasted and shredded |
| 1/2 C | red seedless grapes, cleaned and cut in half |
| 1/3 C | golden raisins |
| 1/3 C | toasted almond slices |
| Dressing | |
| 1/2 C | light mayonnaise |
| 1 T | white wine vinegar |
| 1-1/2 t | sugar |
| 1-1/2 t | curry powder |
| pinch | ground cumin |
| 2-3 T | water |
- Prepare lettuce: Gently wash, and dry the lettuce. I use a salad spinner. Tear into large bite size pieces and arrange on four individual dinner size plates.
- Compose the salads: Divide the shredded chicken equally among the four plates, placing on top of the lettuce. Sprinkle the grapes, then toasted almonds and raisins on top of each salad. Finish with the bacon.
- Dressing: Wisk the dressing ingredients together until thoroughly mixed. Wisk in water to thin dressing to desired consistency.
- To serve: Spoon the dressing over the salads just prior to serving.
The salad can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for several hours. But add the dressing just prior to serving.
Did you say chicken and curry? Oh, this is the dish for me. Yum!
Thank you for the gracious comment Denise!
I can see by your post that my cookbook collection is incomplete – I think I need to get hold of the John Steinbeck cookbook! Great pictures and great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed my post, Gretchen. I am in awe of your cookbook collection! I missed out on so many new cookbooks while busy working full time and raising a family. But catching up is very enjoyable!
I’m looking forward to reading more of the recipes and inspiration from the Steinbeck cookbook, sounds fabulous!
My mother in law was a member of the Valley Guild for many years. Over time she has given me two copies of “The Steinbeck House Cookbook”, one hard back, one soft cover. I have kept both copies. Thank you for inspiring me to revisit more classic recipes from “The Salad Bowl of the World”, the Salinas Valley.