Tarator, or skordalia (page 600), is one of the most useful dressings I know, a mayonnaiselike sauce that contains neither egg nor oil. Here it transforms ordinary chicken salad.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　2 ounces good-quality bread

　　1 cup milk or stock

　　1/4 pound walnuts (about 1 cup)

　　1 small garlic clove, peeled

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　Pure chile powder, like ancho or New Mexico, or paprika to taste

　　2 to 3 cups shredded cooked chicken

　　1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

　　

Step 1

Soak the bread in the milk or stock while you put the walnuts, garlic, and some salt in a food processor and pulse the machine to grind coarsely. Gently squeeze some of the liquid from the bread and add to the processor along with the oil. Process until combined but not pureed. Add as much of the remaining milk or stock as you need to give the mixture a mayonnaiselike consistency.

　　

Step 2

By hand, add the chile powder or paprika; bind the chicken with as much of the sauce as is necessary to give it the texture you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then stir in about two thirds of the cilantro. Serve or refrigerate for up to a day; garnish with the remaining cilantro before serving.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.