Let's be honest about chicken salad. There's good chicken salad and there is bad chicken salad. And once in a while, there is GREAT chicken salad. Out of the blue one day, I decided to experiment with ingredients I had on hand and... oh my goodness, I created a GREAT chicken salad. Maybe even an awesome one. OK, OK, these are ingredients that somewhat naturally go together, so I may not be the first to create it, but I had never had a chicken salad quite like this before, and I didn't follow a recipe, I just made it up... so in my mind, I created it :-)
I decided to share the recipe with all of you because it was just SO easy and SO delicious. This recipe is assuming you don't already have some leftover chicken ready to go.
Ingredients (measurements are approximate - use the picture below if you want to just eyeball the measurements, as I did):
Chicken (this particular time I used 3 skinless, boneless chicken thighs)
1/3 Cup Chopped Celery
1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt (plain, nonfat, I used Fage)
1/8 Cup Mayonnaise
1/3 Cup Craisins
1 1/2 Tbsp. Rosemary
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
Steps:
1. Cook the chicken with some salt & pepper. Then shred or cut into small pieces.
2. Combine the chicken in a medium bowl with craisins, chopped celery, Greek yogurt, and mayonnaise.
3. Add rosemary, garlic powder, and onion powder.
4. Stir all ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve on the bread of your choice - croissant, bread, bagel, biscuit, or roll, and enjoy!
Everyone was super hungry for lunch and I forgot to take a picture of the full bowl all mixed up and ready to eat. This is the best I could do for you all to see the final product.
This chicken salad is great by itself on a sandwich, but it is also delicious with some fresh sliced tomato and crisp, fresh lettuce added to the sandwich. Another option would be to have this on top of some lettuce and other veggies, with a simple vinaigrette dressing if you're trying to reduce your carb intake.
Back in my days of being a work-outside-the-home mom, I always wanted things that I could do easily the night before, to make our crazy mornings slightly less hectic. You could easily cook this chicken while you are cooking dinner and set it aside to prep the chicken salad after dinner. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I love to roast a whole chicken and use some of the leftovers for this chicken salad as well - then the chicken is extra flavorful and so tender!! Then in the morning, you can quickly throw it on your bread or salad and be ready to go!
So, the next time you're looking to shake up your lunch a bit, give this super-simple recipe a try.
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