This recipe was inspired by some leftover whole-grain mustard that’s been sitting in our fridge for a while. I remembered this mouth-watering sandwich that I saw somewhere last summer — layered inside a French baguette were slices of honey-mustard chicken, mango and romaine. So I thought of turning that into a salad, with the mango cut nicely into strips, as in this spinach, shrimp and mango salad recipe that I posted last year at Noodles and Rice. But one bite into the mango and yikes, that mouth-puckeringly-sour fruit simply will not do! I was planning to make a vinaigrette to dress the salad, but the not-quite-ripe mango turned out to be the perfect beginning for an egg-free “mayonnaise”.

Honey-Mustard Grilled Chicken Salad with Mango “Mayonnaise”

The chicken:
4 chicken leg quarters or 2 chicken breasts, de-skinned and de-boned (reserve bones for making stock)
3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
3 tablespoons honey
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

The dressing:

2 almost-ripe Champagne/Ataulfo mangoes, peeled, flesh cut away from the seed and chopped
the juice of 1 lime
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 romaine hearts, torn or sliced into bite-sized pieces, rinsed and spun dry
2 scallions, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Combine chicken and marinade ingredients bowl and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Combine dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Cook chicken on a preheated grill (3 minutes on each side for chicken breasts, 4 for chicken thighs/drumsticks, or until just cooked through and juices run clear) . Slice into strips.

Toss the romaine lettuce with half of the dressing. Arrange lettuce on salad plates and top with the grilled chicken strips. Sprinkle the scallions on top, and nap with additonal dressing.

Serves 4-6.

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This was made yesterday for lunch, and I was feeling mighty proud of my creation, and called my Papa immediately after the meal. I was bragging about how good it tasted, when he interrupts, “Aba, Biyernes ngayon ah!” (It’s Friday today!); Lent doesn’t end ’til 2 Sundays from now.