It has been over a week since Thanksgiving, and I still have leftover turkey. Instead of wasting the turkey, I decided to use the turkey the same way I would use rotisserie or leftover chicken. I shredded up the turkey and made some turkey and fig jam salad. I am a huge fan of chicken salad. I tend to make chicken salad quite a bit during the holidays. It’s very easy to pull together and makes for a tasty, filling lunch or dinner. I’ve had many versions of chicken salad throughout my lifetime. I’ve had classic chicken salad, curried chicken salad, and dressed up chicken salad. If I’m having afternoon tea, I like to make some chicken salad, sandwich them in between two slices of bread, slice the sandwich into bite size pieces and serve them as tea sandwiches. Since I had a lot of turkey leftover, I thought why not treat the turkey like I would treat chicken and turn it into turkey and fig jam salad. The idea for adding jam into the salad came about earlier this year when I was experimenting with chicken salad. I added a bit of apricot jam into the chicken salad and it tasted absolutely delightful. When I made a version of the salad using turkey as the protein, I decided to add some fig jam into the salad (since it was the only jam I had in my refrigerator). The salad turned out to be savory with just the right amount of sweetness. Before I even had time to rest the salad, I already took a couple of bites out of it. This has become one of my favorite ways to use up leftover turkey outside of noodles, soup, and pizza.
Turkey and Fig Jam Salad
· 1 cup shredded turkey
· 2 stalks celery, diced
· 2 stalks scallion, thinly sliced
· 2 tablespoons dried cranberries
· ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
· ½ tablespoon fig jam
· 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, add the shredded turkey, diced celery, sliced scallions, dried cranberries, mustard, jam, mayonnaise, kosher salt, and black pepper. Use a spoon to thoroughly combine all of the ingredients together.
2) Place the turkey and fig jam salad in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour before serving.
Takeaways: The turkey and fig jam salad taste best once it has had time to rest in the refrigerator. The fig jam lends a hint of sweetness to the salad. Apricot jam is also a good substitute for fig jam in this recipe.