No cook chicken salad

[Briza]

This is my chicken salad (and if I am to be so lucky, fresh grilled tuna salad) recipe:


Can of white meat chicken, fewest preservatives possible (if you can't tolerate canned chicken, then boiled or baked chicken will work just as well, just takes a bit longer to make!)
Diced celery and red delicious apple (or the apple YOU like)
Diced or coursely grated carrot
Minced fresh cilantro
Minced fresh mint leaves
Diced red onion ( IC optional)
Finely chopped fresh chile serrano or a bit of wasabe (IC optional, you know, cuz they're spicy)
Fresh ground black pepper (IC optional...I usually use the chile serrano or wasabe, but if I'm out of those will use black pepper)
Squirt of lime/lemon juice to taste ( IC optional)
A little curry powder (IC optional, but makes it taste really good)
Diced hard boiled egg whites (optional)
Salt (optional...usually the canned chicken is salty enough)
And of course as little or much mayonaisse as you like, if you can tolerate it...there have been times I've been out of mayo and have just made the chicken salad without it and it is still a really good and refreshing chilled meal on toast or with crackers. I prefer real mayo, rather than the reduced fat or nonfat...real mayo has much fewer ingredients and few to no preservatives
.

[leelee88]

Sounds great Briza!!
You know what I have subbed the mayonaise for when making chicken or tuna salad is Olive oil!!

[SandyRN]

That sounds really good. I couldn't handle the Wasabi I don't think...don't care for it much and it scares me silly! LOL But the rest of the stuff I can handle. I'm going to copy this and print it. I love Chicken salad.....ya know, you could add a few fresh grapes to that too if you can eat them. Just a thought!

Thanks!!!

[Briza]

Sandy, yes, for chicken salad I have used grapes, too, along with chopped nuts of some variety that I can tolerate...usually walnuts or almonds. I like it served chilled on top of warm cous cous a lot of times.
So that's why I put that so many things are optional...whether it be for IC sensitivities or not, some time I'm just in the mood for this or that in my chicken or tuna salad. But since discovering the canned white meat chicken, unless I have my hands on freshly caught yellow or blackfin tuna, I rarely ever make canned tuna salad anymore.
I really like Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese food, they all use a lot of mint, cilantro and curry in their foods..all of those ingredients make for a chicken salad with a really different and refreshing taste.
Wasabe, like soy sauce, I try not to use if I'm having symptoms and try to use it only sparingly. It can cause me some problems. But fresh chiles, luckily :), are ok for me...just not the pickled/canned/jarred variety.
Well, the recipe isn't completely my own....I learned the basics of the carrot, celery, apple, mayo base from my grandmother, having been icked out by all other tuna salads I had tried b/f, but loved my grandmother's, especially since I don't like mustard, pickles, pickle relish, which most tuna salad recipes have. So over the years I have expanded my grandmother's tuna/chicken salad to suit my taste and if you don't make it like I do, I'm probably not gonna eat it LOL!
Hope you enjoy!:)

[SharonA]

You are a very adventurous cook. Chicken Salad for me means...Chicken, Mayo, Celery, Apple and, if I am feeling especially perky, some Pecans and a few halved Green or Red Grapes. Rather bland after reading your recipe. :(

[Briza]

Sharon, I would be very happy to eat your chicken salad anytime! Esp. since you don't put pickles or mustard in it!:)