Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

This recipe is inspired by a favorite celebrity cook of mine... The Pioneer Woman! I love her life and want to live in the country and cook for cowboys :-).  A friend of mine gave me her most recent cookbook for Christmas last year and I must say it is one of the most gorgeous books that I have in my collection. She shows you step by step photos for each recipe, side dish suggestions and substitutes or add-ons for each recipe as well. So, I am inspired by her cookbook for our meals this week! I decided to make her chicken salad for our lunches this week and boy am I glad I did... it's soooo good!

Chicken Salad Goodness:
You can find the original recipe here

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts at room temperature
• 1 bay leaf, bundle of parsley, garlic powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 3 stalks celery, chopped (with leafy tops)
• 3-4 green onions, chopped (white and light green parts only)
• 1/2 cup each olive oil mayo with black pepper, plain greek yogurt & half/half
• 3 cups red grapes, halved
• palmful of fresh dill, chopped
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
• baby spinach or arugula
• spinach flavored wraps

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add raw chicken breasts, bay leaf, parsley, salt, pepper & garlic powder. Once water comes back up to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until chicken is done. Remove chicken and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Once cooled, dice the chicken.

2. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce. In a small bowl mix the mayo, yogurt, half & half together. Add the lemon juice and sugar and stir until combined. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl (that has a lid), mix the cooked chicken, grapes, celery and onions together. Add three quarters of the sauce and stir gently until well coated. Then, add salt & pepper, almonds and dill and stir. Cover and store in fridge for several hours so the flavors can meld together. Keep the extra sauce in the fridge as well in case you need more. Taste the chicken salad and add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

4. Serve chicken salad on spinach flavored wraps with baby spinach or arugula.

There's nothing like having fresh dill around the house. I planted my dill about 3 weeks ago and it's beautiful!

Fresh Dill

Enjoy!