Sonoma Chicken Salad - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
5 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salad
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted
2 cups red seedless grapes, cut in half
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

Preparation

In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to dress the salad. This can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.
Preheat oven to 375\u00b0F Place the chicken breasts in one layer in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Add to the pan 1/2 cup water. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes until completely cooked through. Remove cooked chicken breasts from pan, cool at room temperature. Note: I find mixing the ingredients together while still slighly warm absorbs the flavors better.
When the chicken is cool, dice into bite-size chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes, celery and dressing.