Crunchy Chicken and Grape Salad

8oz. roasted chicken

2c quartered grapes

1 celery heart and tops
1/4 red bell pepper
3 green onions

Chop - slice everything into a medium bowl then add a good shake of black+cayenne pepper and garlic salt. A couple tablespoons of dijon mustard and enough olive oil mayonnaise to hold everything together.

Today this was lunch over baby arugula. You could also add a couple cups of cooked pasta for a Chicken Pasta Salad. I didn't originally think of chopped pecans or walnuts, but after having this for lunch, I'm going to add some to the rest of the salad. .😊. .Lin

Crunchy Chicken Salad

3/4c ± Real Mayonnaise

2T seedy brown mustard

2T white Balsamic vinegar

Salt, Pepper, Garlic seasoning

Whisk these ingredients together in a big glass bowl to create the dressing. Next, add craisins and the remaining chopped ingredients:

1c craisins

12oz. roasted chicken

2 big celery stalks + greens

1 sm.-med. purple onion

8-10 chopped radishes

When combined, serve with cold pasta, over a bed of Romaine lettuce, or as is with a side of colorful, healthy, raw vegetables. . .Lin

Pepper-Garlic Pita Chips -with- Olive-Pesto Chicken Salad

The chicken salad was going to be the headliner in this 2-for-1 recipe, until I tasted these crispy pita chips. Ohhh, where have these been all my life! 

For a brief history, they began as only a glimmer of a recipe idea since discovering them, freshly baked at Falastin, our sweet little Palestinian restaurant-bakery-deli and market, a mile from my house, in the recently redone building that was previously The New London Cafe.

I've been buying their packs of pita pocket bread for about a month now and it's been a great discovery for toasting, then making my favorite PB&J - organic fresh ground peanut butter and jalapeno pepper jam. I also use them for grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato and onion. Everything has been so good made with this interesting bread! 

PITA CHIPS

2  8" pita pockets

single source EVOO

black + cayenne pepper

Lawry's Garlic Salt

Cut each pitas in half, then cut the layers apart as shown. Cut each half-circle into 2 pieces - this will make 16 chips. Brush inner surfaces with EVOO, arange on a baking sheet then sprinkle with seasonings. This photo shows them brushed, seasoned and ready for the oven.

Bake at 375° for about 15 minutes or until the surfaces start to turn golden brown. Serve with chicken or tuna salad, hummus, red pepper dip. . .you decide! Be creative! (These are savory, if you want, you could make them sweet by brushing with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.)

CHICKEN SALAD

See the first photo for ingredient amounts, 6 oz. roasted chicken dark meat, only half of a medium purple onion, some large garlic-jalapeno stuffed olives, a little green pepper and a celery heart. Chop everything into a medium glass bowl then add mayonnaise, sour cream or your favorite dressing. I used about 1T Dijon mustard and just enough of the Garlic-Pesto Ranch Dressing I made recently to hold everything together.

Served with the amazing crispy pita chips and some salt and peppered tomato and cucumber was a great late lunch. . .Lin

Chicken Salad

6-8oz. roasted chicken

2c chopped celery

1/2 lg. onion chopped

sweet-spicy pickle relish

mayonnaise 

Chop up the chicken, add celery and onion and a couple tablespoons of pickle relish and enough mayonnaise to hold everything together. This would be great wrapped in a Romaine leaf, on a tortilla or with cloud bread, right out of the oven 🙂 . . .Lin

Crunchy Pecan Chicken Salad

I'm mentally creating recipes for the chicken I roasted yesterday. This is the first of three.

I'm also thinking about another Simple Chicken Soup and Chicken-Mushroom Stroganoff. Stay tuned! 😉

6 oz. roasted chicken meat

1/2c craisins - dried cranberries

juice of 1/4 lemon

1c chopped pecans

4 stalks celery

4 green onions

mayonnaise

garlic pepper seasoning

Cut the chicken in small pieces into a medium glass bowl. Add the craisins, chopped pecans, celery and onion. Use enough mayonnaise to hold everything together.

Combine the ingredients gently so as not to crumble the chicken. Add seasonings, and a pinch of sugar if needed. Serve on a lettuce leaf with crackers or make a chicken salad wrap with avocado slices and shredded pepper jack cheese in a flour tortilla. . .Lin

Almond-Craisin Chicken Salad

4-6oz. chicken breast or thigh meat

2T single source EVOO

(you could use a couple strips of finely chopped bacon here if you'd like to add that flavor, and texture, instead of olive oil)

salt and pepper

Usually I only make this from a big, whole, roasted chicken. However, sometimes when a craving hits, you have to get creative.

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and sauté over medium heat, covered with a splatter screen, until it's snapping and starting to brown. Add a little water. This aggravates the oil and gets the meat to brown a little quicker. Let it sizzle a while then cover to finish cooking for a total of 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the celery and onion and combine the following in a medium size bowl:

1 big celery stalk and greens

1/4 lg. purple onion

1/2c sliced almonds

1/3c craisins

1-2T fruity white Balsamic vinegar

When the chicken is cooked, transfer it AND the hot remaining oil in the pan, to the bowl and stir. Let stand a couple minutes then add enough mayonnaise to hold everything together. Mmmm, I love chicken salad!!! Lin

Strawberry-Broccoli-Chicken Salad

1 broccoli crown - washed and dried

Break this up into florets. Cover with a damp paper towel in a single layer, in a flat bowl. Microwave for 90 seconds. Uncover and add:

2c chopped celery
4 sliced green onions
2oz. chopped walnuts
5-6oz. cubed roasted chicken
1/4c Asian Yum Yum Sauce
. . .or poppy seed dressing. . .
2T fruity white Balsamic vinegar
1t Everything Bagel Seasoning
fresh ground black pepper
quartered strawberries

At this point, you can cover the salad with plastic wrap and chill it to serve within the next several hours, or a day or two, or serve right away.

To serve, scoop some into a bowl then toss a bit, since it's a layered salad, to coat everything with the dressing.

This is a really good salad! . .Lin

Craisin Pecan Chicken Salad

In a medium bowl, combine:

4oz. chopped roasted chicken breast
1/2c chopped pecans
1/2c craisins
1/2 med. Vidalia onion - chopped
2 stalks chopped celery heart + tops
2-3T fruity white Balsamic vinegar
enough mayonnaise to coat everything
salt & pepper

I Love Chicken Salad!
This turned out so well! It filled a 3c bowl and was gone in a flash! . .Lin

Almond Curry Chicken Salad

⅓c raisins

3-4 green onions

⅓c sliced almonds

5oz. chopped chicken

⅓c mayonnaise

½c sour cream

1t sugar

1t curry powder

½t black pepper

½t pumpkin pie spice

Put the raisins in a small-medium bowl and add 3T hot water.  I just heated up my lemon tea, so I used that.  Let them rehydrate while you slice the onions.  Add all the ingredients to the bowl, mix well.  This can be plated over romaine leaves as a salad, or made into a sandwich or a wrap.  This makes 3 nice size servings. . .Lin

Craisin-Walnut Chicken Salad

1c craisins

1c frozen peas

1c diced celery

¼ lg. white onion

¾c chopped walnuts

12oz. cooked dark chicken meat

6oz. plain Greek yogurt

6oz. mayonnaise

2T lemon or lime juice

1T Penzeys dried chives

½t Penzeys Red and Black spice - (ground red and black pepper)

2t Penzeys Trinidad - lemon peel-salt-garlic-cloves-ginger

- water -

Combine the first group in a medium glass bowl.  Rough chop the chicken and add to the bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice and spices, adding water a little at a time as needed, until the dressing goes from 'gloppy' to pourable.  My perfect dinner tonight, this salad with a glass of Beet Lemonade.  Fill a small pitcher with ¼ beet juice and ¾ lemonade! . . . Lin  

Grilled Chicken Salad

1# chicken tenderloins

2T coconut oil

garlic sea salt

black pepper

2 celery ribs and tops

½c chopped walnuts

½ sm. purple onion

¼c caper berries

mayonnaise

sour cream

Grill the chicken in a skillet with the melted coconut oil.  Flip the chicken, season, flip again and season the other side.  Fry these about 10 minutes per side until cooked through.  Cool, chop the chicken into a glass bowl.  Add the pan brownings and the. finely chopped celery, walnuts and onion.  Add capers (not shown).  Mix, adding enough mayonnaise and sour cream to hold everything together.  Serve in a spinach tortilla as a wrap, or over crispy romaine leaves. . .Lin

Fresh and Crunchy Savory Chicken Salad

8-10 oz. cooked chicken thigh meat

1 celery stalk and tops - chopped

½ lg. Vidalia onion - chopped

¼ orange pepper - chopped

1 lg. dill pickle - chopped

1c frozen peas - thawed

2-3T drained capers

2-3T each: sour cream and mayonnaise

1-2t Penzy's Shallot Pepper

1T dried or fresh chives

Cook and cool the chicken.  Remove the bones, skin and fat, then cut it up and add to the rest of the chopped vegetables in a medium size glass bowl.  Combine with the next group of ingredients, mix well and chill an hour or two before serving.

I love chicken salad!  This one turned out so well, but would have been even better with ½c of chopped pecans or walnuts - if I had them!

This already has me thinking about my next chicken salad.  A fresh-crunchy curry chicken salad with golden raisins or craisins. . .Lin

Quick Chicken Salad

1 12.5oz. can chicken
1 med. sweet onion
1 red mini pepper
1 stalks celery
¼c capers
½c mayonnaise
⅓c sweet-dill relish
fresh ground pepper

Drain the chicken and flake it into a medium size bowl.  Add the chopped onion, pepper and the remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Serve in a pita pocket or on a bed of lettuce. . .Lin

Crunchy-Spicy Avocado Chicken Salad

1 12.5oz. can chicken - drained

½ lg. yellow onion - chopped

2 mini English cucumbers - chopped

1c celery hearts and tops - chopped

1-2T coriander (cilantro) chutney

1 avocado - not shown - diced

2T good quality extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground salt and black pepper

1T fresh lemon or lime juice

Combine all the ingredients in a medium glass bowl.  This turned out to be a really spicy, and flavorful salad, due primarily to the coriander chutney.  Very spicy!  I used a tuna salad recipe as an inspiration, added the celery, since I didn't have fresh cilantro.  However, the 'sour-tanginess' of tuna didn't appeal to me. 

I checked my cabinet and found that I had 4 large cans of chicken, but only 1 small can of tuna.  Decision made!  The original tuna salad showed large English seedless cucumbers halved, then chopped.  Mine were the mini version, quartered, then chopped.  They were for sure big enough, could have been even smaller.

This is a really good, fresh, crispy, high protein salad. . .Lin