Saturday, November 19, 2011

Curry Chicken Salad

I love a good chicken salad as a quick and easy dinner option.  I have been playing with different ways to prepare chicken salad to find the perfect mix of ingredients.  I finally came across a mixture that my husband and I have labeled as one of our favorite meals.  The secret is curry.  You can also make this healthy by substituting the mayonnaise for low fat, or a mixture of both.

Curry Chicken Salad:

What you will need:
4 or 5 boneless skinless chicken breast cooked and shredded (You can also buy a precooked rotisserie chicken and shred the meat)
1 cup mayonnaise (or light/low fat if you prefer)
A few squirts of mustard to taste
2 stalks of celery diced
1 small yellow onion chopped
1 red delicious apple cored and diced (if you like your apples peeled, you can peel it)
1/2 cup of seedless green grapes halved
1/2 of chopped walnuts (you can also use pecans)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon of curry powder

Directions:
The star of this dish is curry so you really want to bring out it's flavor.  One of the easiest ways to boost a spices flavor, is heating it on the stove. You can roast the spices in the oven, but I like to toast mine on the stove top so I have more control.  Spices can burn easy so it's important to stir them as they heat up. They are ready when they become slightly darker and have a strong aroma.  This usually takes a couple minutes.  Make sure to remove the spices from the pan right away to stop them from cooking any further. 

Saute the onion in a pan for just a few minutes with butter or cooking spray.

Thoroughly mix all ingredients in bowl.  I usually add a little more curry (unheated) if the flavor isn't strong enough for us.  This recipe is very flexible so it is hard to mess up.
If you have leftovers, the flavor is even better the next day!

Enjoy!

No comments:

Post a Comment