Chicken Salad

[shelley]

now that the weather is getting warmer (for some of you - some of us are dealing with record-breaking rains oh my! but today it's been gorgeous heh) it's the perfect time to highlight salads. Every dosha can eat more cold dishes in warm weather.

Chicken Salad is a mainstay for me because it's quick and easy when I need protein, and it's a great way to use the chicken meat from leftover chicken roast, or the leftover meat from when I'm making chicken broth from a whole free-range chicken.

If you haven't started making your own chicken broth (which I highly recommend you do) you can still make chicken salad, just buy 2-3 chicken breast halves. I keep about 6-8 chicken breast halves (this is the technically correct name for chicken breasts since they are deboned one half at a time) in the freezer. I just buy a ton of organic, free-range breasts from my butcher, put them in freezer-safe Ziplock bags individually, and take them out as needed.

You can also buy one of those already cooked rotisserie chickens from the grocery store and shred the meat, but this is a bit of a cheat because the chickens are not free-range.

It's much easier to cut and cube slightly frozen chicken. Totally defrosted chicken breasts are slimy and move away from the knife. So I just partially defrost the chicken breasts for about an hour before I cut them up.

Once cut up, it only takes about 2-3 minutes of submersion in boiling water to cook them. Drain in a seive or colander and start making your salad.

Here's what I very often use in my chicken salad to make it more nutritious and interesting:

Green apple chunks. Green apples are the one fruit you can easily combine with protein because the fruit acids aid digestion so much. Braeburn are very sweet.

Wild rice. I cook up about 1/2 cup until it's soft but still a bit chewy. Adds tons of vits and minerals and is a very nice change.

Bell pepper - whatever color I have in my fridge. Fantastic source of C and potassium.

Celery - feeds the adrenals and has a great crunch.

Onion - feeds the veins and adds a nice bit of pungency. I don't use much, just about 1-2 tablespoons is all you need. Sometimes I use green onions instead of white or yellow.

Basil - one of my favorite fresh herbs, just julienne the leaves and toss it in, about 2 tablespoons fresh, or one teaspoon dry. Yummy!

With all that goodnes you don't really need to sweat the bit of mayonaise that goes into it. And you really only need a couple tablespoons of that. Your salad doesn't have to be drowning in mayo!

For extra variety and pungent therapy, consider adding curry and cumin to the mayonaise. Omit the basil or get Thai purple basil. Very tasty!

Shelley's Chicken Salad

2 chicken breast halves, cubed and boiled until done. Set aside to cool in the refrigerator. Yields about 2 cups of shredded chicken.
1/2 cup of wild rice, cooked (takes about 20 minutes of simmering) and drained.
1/2 Braeburn apple, peeled, cored, chopped into bite-sized bits
1/2 cup of celery, chopped small
1 small bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized bits
2 tablespoons mayonaise
sea salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced, or 1 teaspoon dried (if using dried, add it to the mayo before adding mayo)

Combine and toss thoroughly. Serve as-is or on a bed of lettuce and other veggies, or use to stuff an avocado or pita bread.

Serves 4. Lasts for 3 days in the fridge no problem.

[AgnesT]

Sounds great! I love the fruit/chicken combo. One of my favorite taste sensations is chicken salad with grapes in it. I guess that's a no-no, huh?

BTW, I recently made your lentil salad and it is deelish. I put wild rice in it, too, and it was nice.

[shelley]

Great! Mmm... wild rice and lentil pilaf.... yummm...

Yeah, grapes are a no-no. I did it once with red grapes, and well, the tell-tale results said nope, don't do THAT again! But apples have never given me any gas. YRMVary of course. Can't speak for everyone!