Crunchy Middle Eastern Chicken Salad Recipe

A couple of culinary things are a given in my house. One is that, every two or three weeks, i will eat roasted chicken for dinner with good crusty bread and a green salad. The other is that i will turn the leftover chicken into chicken salad. Note that i didn't say i will roast a chicken every two or three weeks, just that i will eat one. Oh, i've roasted my share of chickens and still do on special occasions. But what i love about this particular dinner is that it's quick and easy and that means store bought rotisserie chicken. Those things are so good I usually behave and pull off most of the skin to make it a pretty healthy meal. It's also a meal that must be eaten while being stared at intently by my dog but that's another story. Now, about the leftover chicken, because there certainly will be a fair amount of it. That is my built-in excuse to make chicken salad for lunch the next day, and quite possibly dinner as well. So before i put away the first night's chicken dinner, i disassemble it and stash it in an air tight container in the fridge. I prefer to shred the meat rather than cube it but that's a personal preference. A standard deli chicken salad has mayonnaise and celery but i see it as a blank canvas for lots of flavorings. Here i went middle eastern with tahini and za'atar. You can still add celery if you like but i got the crunch from carrots and almonds and it was so good