Ponderings on Chicken Salad. And a recipe.

I don't know if other people have had this same experience, but until a few years ago I didn't know what chicken salad was. I don't ever recall having it as a child, not even at potlucks or picnics or anywhere.
To me, chicken salad was a salad (you know, with lettuce or spinach and all of those other delicious veggies?) with grilled chicken laid neatly on top of it.

Maybe  I'd never heard of it because I am from the west coast, and and it's more of a southern thing?
( I don't really know if this is factually true. I do, however know that if anything is fried or has mayonnaise in it, it probably originated in the south. Like, fried mayonnaise. What is that all about?? Or, chicken on a stick. Available at the gas station. I don't know...the cultural differences just amaze me sometimes. I'm not trying to sound snobby, its just interesting to see what  foods are popular in different parts of the country, and what weird things people come up with.)

Okay. Random rant over with.


I didn't know what people were talking about when they said, 'chicken salad sandwich.'
Boy, was I missing out!
I finally found out what it was last summer when one of the local newspapers held a chicken salad recipe contest. I read one of the winning recipes and thought, 'hey, that sounds good!'
I think I may have had chicken salad once before at a church function or something, since I moved to the south, not knowing what it was.

Anyway, I made it, with a few tweaks of my own to the recipe, (okay, I totally modified it and pared it down to how we eat ) and I really like it a lot! It's a great thing to make and take with you when you're in the car, or for lunch at work, or what have you. Just remember, it does have mayo in it, so don't leave it out too long without being refrigerated or you could end up sick. :)



So, without anymore rambling, here is my recipe for chicken salad:


Chicken Salad
makes 4 big sandwiches worth of salad


4 chicken tenders or 2 chicken breasts, poached and shredded
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 apple, cored and diced
1/4 cup pecans or almonds
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. curry powder
salt, pepper to taste

Poach, and drain chicken, let cool til able to handle.

 Shred finely in a medium sized bowl.


Add cranberries, (I was out of cranberries this time.)

apples,

 nuts.

Obviously, I didn't add the nuts like this! ;)

 Add mayo and spices.

 Stir stir stir, til smooth and incorporated.
This is before I stirred.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! How silly is that? Trust me, it's yummy.

Let  the mixture cool a little bit more in the fridge, then eat  it on bread, rolls, crackers, or even tortillas if you're in a pinch.
 I was in a pinch this particular time. We had no bread products of any kind except tortillas, so chicken salad wraps is what we had for dinner!  A nice leaf of lettuce on the sandwich  or wrap helps your brain justify eating all of that mayo. They were good, but not very pretty to photograph, so sorry you don't get to see what they looked like. You'll just have to make your own, to see how they turn out.  ;)

Happy eating!