Summer Recipe – Fresh and Easy Chicken Salad

I have been trying to find a basic chicken salad that I like, for a while.  I tried coming up with my own recipe, with no luck, and every recipe that I’ve made has ended in disappointment.

Finally, we were up visiting my parents in Michigan, and my sister brought over some chicken salad she made from a P-90X recipe (I’m so proud of her and her hubs for doing P-90X, by the way!) And… it was REALLY good! The flavors tasted right to me, and I asked her for the recipe right away.

I know many of you probably already have a chicken salad recipe that you love, because let’s be honest, it really shouldn’t be so hard to find one that you like.  But, what I like about this recipe is that it’s super easy, you don’t really have to measure, you can just throw it together.  Also, you can customize it based on your preferences and what you have on hand.

Here are the original ingredients, and then I’ll tell you how I modified it. (My sister’s original notes are in the parenthesis.)

10 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 ounces low-fat mayonnaise (3/8 cup)
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard (really important that you use Dijon. We made it regular mustard and it definitely was not as good)
1/3 C green onions (I just used some sweet Vadalia onion, but you could probably just use some onion powder)
1/2 tsp black pepper (again, I didn’t use this much)
1/2 tsp dill (it calls for fresh, but I used dried)
3/4 C celery

So based on the above recipe, and my sister’s notes, here’s the easy recipe I have come up with. Sorry for the lack of measurements, if you’re a measurement person.  The reason I think it’s easy is because I don’t have to measure! If you really need measurements, start with the recipe above and adjust it for the amount you are making.

Easy Chicken Salad

• Cooked chicken – use as much as you like, and whatever cooking method you prefer.  I used about a cup of meat from a whole chicken I had cooked in a crockpot.
• Mayo – You can use whatever brand, flavor you like. I used about 2 Tbsp of Trader Joe’s mayo.
• Dijon Mustard – you can see my sister’s note above that it’s important to use dijon and not regular mustard, I think this is the key flavor that makes me like this chicken salad so much.  I just squirted the mustard a few times into the bowl.
• Onion powder, black pepper, dill – We don’t really do onions, so I used onion powder, but you can use whatever type of onion you prefer – green, white, red, sweet. Sprinkle the seasonings on to taste.  Go easy on the pepper and dill, you can always add more if you like, but it’s hard to take it away if you add too much.
• Add Ins – this can be whatever else you like in your chicken salad, and this is where it gets really good.  I added some sweet cherries that we picked over the weekend and Wow! it was sooo good!  We don’t like celery, but I added some slivered almonds for some crunch. Halved grapes would also be good, or maybe dried cranberries.  I definitely think some kind of sweet fruit addition is what makes this so yummy – so use what you like, and what you have on hand!

Mix everything together in a bowl, and enjoy!

I was planning to put mine in a pita with lettuce, but the pita fell apart, and then I just ended up eating it between two lettuce leaves (from my garden!).  It was so good that I ate it all yesterday, now I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t save any for today!

Now, I just need to find a good recipe for pasta salad.  That’s another one I just haven’t found the “right” recipe for yet.

Do you have a basic recipe that you’ve had a hard time finding your “perfect” version of?  What do you like to add to your chicken salad?

Want more yummy, easy and fast recipes? Try these:

• Easy Black Bean Hummus
• Homemade Frozen Fruit “Ice Cream”
• Cream Cheese Ball Recipe

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I know you’re all waiting (patiently of course) to hear about the winner of the Natural Laundry Giveaway! I had more entries than I expected, so I have to sort through them and then pick the winner with random.org. So sorry, but it will probably have to wait until Thursday to be announced, so stay tuned!

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