Sep 18, 2011

Chicken Salad: How I Make It

Everybody makes chicken salad differently.  This is how I make it.

First cook your chicken.  The odor of chicken first thing in the morning isn't so appetizing to me, so I plug up my slow cooker outside.  It cooked overnight.  I unplugged it first thing the next morning, let it cool and de-boned it at lunch.
Above, left to right: bones, meat, broth.  You can buy local chicken through ASN in Little Rock or Russellville.
Other ingredients: celery, carrots, Nancy's sour cream, lacto-fermented mayonnaise, onion. Not pictured: mustard. This is not a paid advertisement, but we really like Nancy's sour cream which is cultured (has probiotics in it).  I get it from Azure Standard.
I shred the carrots, celery and onions in my food processor this this attachment.  For a 3.85 pound whole chicken, I used 3 big carrots (I don't peel them, but do remove the ends), half bunch of celery, and half the onion.  Chicken salad is also good with: horseradish, green onions, jicama, and parsley but I didn't have any of those in my fridge.
Dump the chicken in the food processor with the blade attachment with a big dollop of mayo (you can make your own!) and a generous squirt of mustard.  You could chop the chicken by hand, but we like it the consistency of canned tuna.
 Mix the veggies and chicken, add salt and pepper.  At this point I usually add a big scoop of sour cream until it reaches the consistency I like.
I failed to take a final final picture but you're smart enough to imagine it looking all yummy without my camera phone pictures.

We ate it in tortilla wraps for lunch on Saturday and in lettuce wraps on Sunday.

What do you like in your chicken salad?

-Julie

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4 comments:

  1. Mine varies every time I make it depending on what I have in the house. Things I've used in the past include: red/yellow/orange bell pepper, celery, grapes, pecans, almonds, green olives, dill pickle relish, capers, curry powder, poultry seasoning, dill... I don't use them all at the same time, of course. I use homemade mayo, but not sour cream since dairy doesn't like me. I usually eat it on top of a lettuce salad. I've never tried grinding my chicken up like that. I've always just cut into small chunks. I guess that would make the texture more like tuna salad. Looks yummy!

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  2. Great post. I never made a big quantity of chicken salad all at once and never put veggies in it - but I might just try it your way with a few tweaks.
    I like to invite you to share easy, real food recipes at http://www.ruthsrealfood.com/2011/09/real-food-101-sept-26-2011.html

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  3. I like mine with greek yogurt, almonds and crushed pineapple!

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  4. Julie, thanks for the good idea. I was just trying to figure out what to do with this chicken in my refrigerator. In addition, to lacto-fermented mayo, I put in lacto-fermented garlic and some lacto-fermented root vegetables. I think it is a combination of carrots, radishes, and turnips - found an almost empty jar in the back of the refrigerator. I believe you made it. Thanks! I also threw in some dulse flakes for minerals from the sea. The chicken salad came out great.
    Lisa

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