Brett’s favorite thing to get at Panera is the Fuji Chicken Salad. This is notable since it’s pretty much the only time he orders salad at a restaurant. It’s a green salad with grilled chicken, pecans, cranberries, blue cheese and dried apples.
I had chicken salad on the menu plan and decided to tweak it to copy the Panera salad. Except chopped up and mixed with mayo. ;) Most ingredients I already had on hand, so it was a great way to use up items from my CSA box, freezer and pantry.

Fuji Apple Chicken Salad
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 Fuji apple, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 c. dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
1/2 c. mayo
Salt and pepper
Salad greens

Mix all ingredients except greens. Easy to make ahead and refrigerate. Serve over greens and drizzle with a little white wine vinegar.
Brett liked this take on his Panera favorite, and it was perfect as the weather made a nice warm upswing this week. Of course, all these ingredients would be good without the mayo just on a green salad, but this would be really yummy on a croissant for a brunch. And the mayo hit my non-dairy creamy fix. I think I’m going to morph Panera’s Thai Chopped Chicken Salad next.

My ingredient upgrades: organic chicken and veggies, olive oil mayo