Wish I Had Thought of That

I may have mentioned this before, but I have um...less then... stellar skills in the kitchen.  So I am always looking for new ways to do things. 

Or, a better ways to do things. 

Basically just ways to do things.

We have chicken or hamburger quite often, and when you only know a few ways to prepare each, things can get monotonous.

So I tried this chicken salad recipe the other night.

(um, I think a month ago?  hello bad blogger, nice ta meet ya)

It was pretty good... but dang that sandwich is blah looking!  I wish I had added some parsley or put it on a bed of fresh Romaine lettuce or something.

I did go back and add some diced tomato.

Which I happen to love on everything.  And when I say everything I mean some stuff. 

My grasp of the English language is blowing your mind right now.  I can tell.

Here is the recipe which I HIGHLY recommend adding some greens to.  Maybe some chives on top?  Or some fresh dill?  Yeah.  Fresh dill.  I wonder if I can go back and photoshop in fresh dill.  That might require knowing what fresh dill looks like.  And knowing how to add stuff into pictures on photoshop.

Details, details.

Chicken Salad

3 cups diced chicken (I used rotisserie)

1 tsp celery salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup mayo

1 tsp salt (I used our house blend)

Optional:

1/2 cup diced tomato

I put the salad on hot dog buns and we really preferred that over regular bread.

Now, this recipe is pretty darn basic. 

I have a feeling that you have a better version of chicken salad in your arsenal.  Care to share?

I will send a super expensive and finely crafted matchbook mini to the commenter with the best chicken salad recipe. 

It can be yours, it can be one you saw on the internet (be sure to give credit though) it can be that you added dill to this one.  

Wish I had thought of that.

Comments

[Gianna]

LOL! I am AMAZED at your grasp of the English language! You are so funny! That looks so awesome!

[Renee]

It looks scrumptious! I LOVE anything chicken. My family always teases me, whenever we go out I always get something chicken. I'm going to have to try your recipe. Thanks for posting it.

[Katie@ The Baby Factory]

too funny :) It looks fantastic even without the green ;) I heart chicken.

[libby]

haha you're hilarious. I think it looks great the way it is. :) yummy we love chicken in our home!

[Megan M.]

Ok, I'm a serious cheater. When I do my chicken salad, I totally use the canned chicken breast chunks from Sam's. I also love a little pickle relish in mine (sweet or dill- depends on my mood.)
Finally, I serve mine in a tortilla! We do them with some leaf lettuce, and roll the whole thing up. My oldest loves it in his lunch box, and we toss 'em in the cooler for road trips. It's a great grab-and-go choice for when we're running out the door for baseball!

[Bethany]

You crack me up! Grapes and pecans in it are wonderful.

[bamagirl3525]

That chicken salad looks yummy! Here's my recipe:

Jalapeno Chicken Salad

Poached chicken (2 breasts actually makes quite a bit of salad! Also, I don't recommend using rotisserie chicken, it's really greasy)
Light mayo
Dijon mustard (like Grey Poupon)
Hot sauce (You may want to leave this out altogether, or stir it in at the end, after you've tasted the mixture with the jalapenos)
Pecans (or other meaty nut, like walnuts)
Jarred jalapenos
Salt & pepper to taste

Cut up in the chicken into chunks and process in the food processor/mini-chopper until they have a good-looking consistency. Dump all of that into your tupperware. Process the pecans and jalapenos till everything looks good and chopped, and add that to the chicken. Spoon in lite mayo (I usually start with around a 1/2 cup) and a few squirts of dijon mustard, then dash in the hot sauce and salt & pepper. Mix it all up and taste it -- you may need to add more mayo, dijon, or salt & pepper to suit your taste. This is so good on a sandwich, as a melt with a creamy white cheese, or just spread on crackers.

If you don't have a food processor, you can shred the chicken by hand, hand-dice the jalapenos, and just break up the pecans with your hands. Takes a little longer, tastes just the same!

Also, this will look nasty, but it tastes DELICIOUS!!

[Holly Neaton]

I always add chopped up apple, craisins, and usually a nut of some sort.

[ElizaBeth]

:) This is what I'm making for lunch today with leftover chicken!! I'll send you my recipe later!

[tammy]

Alright here's the best chicken salad ever.......
One entire bag of chicken breasts(add some seasoned salt and garlic and bake)
Cut up into pieces
In large bowl throw in 3 heaping Tbls mayo 3 heaping Tbls Miracle Whip
16 ounce sour cream
Bag of grapes cut in half
Cut up a bunch of onion Chives(I just use the greenpart)
Mix together with the chicken.....and here's the kicker add a 12 ounce can of chashews. Simply the best Chicken salad ever. Whenever I make this for party's I'm always asked for the recipe.
Tammy

[Britney]

Here is the winner...
2 cups cooked chicken, I bake it, cool it, shred it
1 cup of swiss cheese either shredd or cubed
1/2 cup dill pickle relish
2/3 cup of mayo, light or otherwise
1 Tbs of fresh parsley, chopped
1 teas of lemon juice
and house seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder)

Mix it and chill it
Serve it with baby spiniach or romaine lettuce on bread of choice.

Soooo Gooooooood

[Michelle]

I like your recipe for Chicken salad. It has way more spices then mine. Of course, mine never has spices but that's just cause I never thought to add any!

I like to add grapes or apples or both to my chicken salad. Grapes are better then apples in my opinion. The red grapes are best. Just cut them in 4th's and add them to your recipe. I think it makes it a bit more summery!

[Kristin Smith]

I don't have a recipe to share...I think I will steal your though. YUM! :)

Speaking of "stealing"....were people stealing your photos off of your website and putting them on theirs? I noticed that you started putting your 'logo" at the bottom recently and have a disclaimer on your baking site....

Just curious...don't know why people would do that but I shouldn't be surprised!!

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

[Genny]

Love the tomatoes... that sandwich looks great. And you always have me laughing with your writing. Love your voice, Amanda. :)

[Blessed Mom]

My recipe is from the website allrecipes.com, but it's wonderful and I've gotten a lot of compliments. It's also very colorful.

Holiday Chicken Salad
4 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped celery
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup minced green bell pepper
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise with paprika and seasoned salt. Blend in dried cranberries, celery, bell pepper, onion, and nuts. Add chopped chicken, and mix well. Season with black pepper to taste. Chill 1 hour.

[Julie]

So I LOVE chicken salad and have tried TONS of variety...keep your recipe especially with your house blend and play around with add ins like your monster cookies idea...grapes are great, I like sliced almonds (the seasoned ones in the produce section are AWESOME - if I have them), raisins or dried cranberries, apple chunks (makes it sort of like a Waldorf - is that the right name?), the absolutely best one that I had at a restaurant had crushed pineapple. So, my suggestions - fruit is always a good add in - my kids turn their noses up - so I leave it on the side for them. Enjoy! By the way...I have learned some great cookie tricks from you...Thanks!!!

[Cassie]

I actually posted 2 ways that I make chicken salad on my blog a few months ago. Check it out! http://southerndomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/2010/03/healthy-lunch-recipes-2-twists-on.html

[Ruth]

Okay here we go, but I don't have exact measurements because I never use them. I just put in what I like until it tastes the way I want it to (I know, that's bad huh?)

Diced chicken (or one large can of chicken)
Chopped fresh spinach
fresh grated parmesean (in other words not the kind in the can but the kind in the bag)
Bacon Ranch dressing (I like Hidden Valley)

Mix together and stuff it in a pita (You maybe could even add you favorite tomatoes in too). Yum! Yum! My kids even like it and the littlest one does not do veggies, especially spinach. It's a great summer food if your chicken, spinach and dressing are already cold. Serve with a fruit salad and you've got a pretty healthy meal.

[The Lumberjack's Wife]

Yum.

you could rainbow color it? Hmmm ? :)

[ali]

Yum! I need to make some soon, and I need to find a non-white-stuff chicken salad recipe so I can make some that my husband and my teenager will eat... they both dispise anything with mayo or sour cream or cream cheese! I know... what is wrong with them?! I think I need to experiment with an olive oil based one, maybe with an Italian dressing or something...?

Anyhoo- more cold salads are on the agenda, fer sure!

[CFMama]

Ohhhhh looks delicious!

[aimee]

Yummmm! I love chicken salad! My favorite is from Publix - an almond tarragon chicken salad that is so yummy on crackers or buns! Here is my version because I can't afford t spend $3 on a little cup every time I crave it!

3 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into small cubes
Just a smidge under 1/2 c mayo
1 Tbs mustard - you can use dijon or yellow 1 Tbs sour cream
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh tarragon (or dried - but I love fresh herbs!!)
1/4 c sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste(or your house blend!)
Combine all ingredients except the chicken to make your dressing. Toss with the chicken and chill. Serve on bread, rolls, crackers - yummmmm!

[jen]

so good to meet you today! love the blog!

[abby]

Looks amazing! I love pretty much every chicken salad sandwich I've ever eaten.
My recipe is very similar to yours, but also add:
1/2 cup celery
1 1/2 cups halved grapes
1 1/2 cups diced swiss cheese

I like mine on croissants!

Your pictures are beautiful. It's always fun to see your creations!

[Theresa]

That sounds yummy. If you add some celery or grapes it will add to the texture and add some color as well. Dried cramberries or other fruit is really good with chicken salad as well.

[Liz]

I love putting in craisens! SO yummy! Even grapes are good in chicken salad!

[Londa]

How did I miss this post? Oh yes...five kids, all day, at my home! I'm a chicken salad freak! This really is the best recipe...I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings but...it is!
Just add the ingredients free style (as much as you like!)

Cubed chicken breast
diced celery
diced green onions
sliced red grapes
drained mandarin oranges
chopped pecans
mayo with olive oil
dill...lots and lots of dill

Mix it up and serve on flaky crescents. Mmmm!

[kitchen table]

This sounds yummy! I hope my kids will like this when I put them in their lunch boxes!

[Ouyang Dan]

Ooh! (BTW, I like to drop back into your blog now and again!) I love chicken salad.

I usually buy a bag of frozen breasts and either grill them up in good weather or use my cast iron grill pan indoors, and shred it, or I use canned chicken because I am a big cheater. If the rotisserie chicken is a good price I will get that too, b/c the taste is better than canned for salad.

I use a little Italian dressing, or I make my own mustard vinaigrette. I like to add almonds pecans (whatever's handy), a little fresh avocado, and Diced! Tomato! Basically anything I like, and just eat it. But I really like your hot dog bun idea, because I bet my Kid would really like that!

[Hilary (A Look Into Our Lives)]

Yummy! I love tomatoes on 'everything,' too. Really..I do!
Oh, and I love adding halved red grapes to chicken salad whenever I make it(which isn't alot but I'm thinking I need to make some soon!)

[marks and spencer discount code]

This seems delicious chicken salad and I will definitely make it in this weekend.This is quite different recipe of salad and I would like to taste it.