Chicken salad is one of my favorite foods to have on hand in the summer, and so I love to make variations on the typical chicken salad. I often make it after roasting a couple chickens, using the leftover breast meat, which I prefer over dark meat in this instance.
Use the recipe below as a guideline, but make your own substitutions as needed, and taste as you go. Toasted almonds are a nice substitute for the cashews, and a finely diced sweet pepper is nice, as is a finely diced jalapeno if you'd like some heat.
Chicken salad is very adaptable!
Ingredients:
-4-5 cups cooked chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
-1 apple, cut into a small dice
-3 stalks celery, cut into a small dice
-1/2 medium onion, finely minced (red is nice, for color, green onions also work)
-1/4 of a red cabbage, about 1.5 cups very finely shredded (I use a mandoline)
-1/2 cup roasted salted cashews, roughly chopped
-1/2 cup golden raisins or dried tart cherries
-1 tablespoon yellow curry powder (I like this one )
-1/2 cup good quality or homemade mayonnaise
-2 tablespoons greek yogurt
-salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
-1/2 a bunch of fresh cilantro, finely minced
-juice of 1 lime (sometimes I add the zest too, depending on my mood!)
Method:
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, toast the curry powder over medium/low heat, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, until the spices are fragrant. Take care to not burn it.
In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, greek yogurt, curry powder, and lime juice, plus a few large pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add the chicken, apple, celery, onion, cabbage, cashews, dried raisins or cherries, and cilantro. Gently stir to combine, and taste for salt, adding more as needed.
Serve immediately, or chill it before serving, if preferred. This should keep for about 4 days in the refrigerator.