A Salad for Fall: Shredded Chicken with Haricots Verts, Radicchio & Goat Cheese with Sherry Vinaigrette

Chopped salads, shredded salads, and cole slaws are a nice departure from your everyday mixed greens or arugula. They are appealing in their likeness to confetti, so choose vivid and contrasting colors and textures. Here, bright yellow and green haricots verts pop out of a pile of shredded radicchio and grilled chicken, tossed in a sherry vinaigrette. For creaminess I added fresh goat cheese, and for crunch, toasted walnuts. This is a great salad for fall.

Shredded Chicken with Haricots Verts, Radicchio, Goat Cheese and Sherry Vinaigrette
serves 4

Ingredients
1 handful yellow haricots verts, washed and trimmed
1 handful green haricot verts, washed and trimmed
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rib meat and tender removed
1 small head of radicchio, halved, cored and thinly shredded
1/4 cup walnuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 8 minutes, and chopped
1/3 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese
3 tblsp sherry vinegar
2 tblsp walnut oil, or extra-virgin olive oil, plus 2 tblsp olive oil for grilled chicken
1 tblsp grainy mustard
1 tsp honey
1 small shallot, minced
2 tblsp chopped Italian parsely
salt and coarse black pepper

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the haricots verts for 2 minutes. Immediately remove to an ice water batch to cool. Drain and pat dry.

2. Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and lightly coat with olive oil. Grill chicken breasts until golden brown and cooked through, approximately 6 minutes per side. Remove, cover loosely and let cool. When cool enough to handle, use your fingers or two forks to shred the chicken. (Alternately, you can buy a rotiserrie chicken and shred the breast meat)

3. In a large bowl, use a fork to whisk together the sherry vinegar, mustard and honey. Season with salt and pepper. In a slow, steady stream, whisk in the walnut oil. Whisk in the minced shallot and chopped parsley. Add the radicchio, haricots verts and shredded chicken and toss to coat evenly. Top with chopped walnuts, crumbled goat cheese, and a few cracks of black pepper.