Sometimes one of the simplest ways to vary the best way you cook dinner is to not cook dinner in any respect.

For some weeknight meals, we seize a cooked rotisserie hen from the grocery store, which permits us to deal with loading up the shredded meat with taste. It’s a trick we use for this impromptu hen salad from our ebook “COOKish,” which limits recipes to simply six elements with out sacrificing taste. And it’s the proper factor to throw collectively on the final minute earlier than that vacation cookout with out having to activate the oven throughout a scorching summer time day.

For this recipe, we skip the mayonnaise and as an alternative use one other shortcut that packs complicated taste into one ingredient - purple pepper jelly. The slight bitterness and vegetal high quality of the peppers helps to steadiness the sugars.

Two tablespoons of white vinegar brightens the dressing, and thinly sliced scallions or purple onion contribute a pointy chunk. And canned black-eyed peas are a simple method so as to add substance. We let the beans soak within the dressing for 10 minutes so that they take in extra taste, which additionally provides time to shred the hen.

An average-size, store-bought rotisserie chook will yield sufficient shredded hen for this recipe.

The salad is very good on high of leafy greens or served with a hunk of cornbread. And it’s all achieved and able to serve in below half-hour.

PHOTOS: For last-minute Labor Day hen salad, purchase a cooked chook

Chicken and bean salad with pepper jelly French dressing

Start to complete: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced OR ½ purple onion, thinly sliced⅓ cup purple pepper jelly2 tablespoons white vinegar OR scorching sauce2 tablespoons impartial oilKosher salt and floor black pepper15½-ounce can black-eyed peas OR kidney beans OR black beans, rinsed and drained3 cups shredded cooked hen

Directions: 

Stir collectively the scallions, jelly, vinegar, oil, and a pinch every of salt and pepper. Add the beans, stir and let stand for about 10 minutes. Stir within the hen, then season with salt and pepper.

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