Curried Chicken Salad
Nov. 8th, 2005 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walton_eatsMy cooking philosophy, for the most part, is "keep it simple". I tend to stay away from the idea of gilding the lily. Often, when it comes to food, especially when made with fresh, wonderful ingredients, I find that less is more.
Then there's my curried chicken salad.
I find that I just keep adding stuff to it. I can't help myself :).
So, my curried chicken salad. Measurements are vague to non-existent.
I baked six boneless, skinless, chicken breasts for about 40 minutes. If you want to poach them, you can do that instead. After they cooled to room temperature, I chopped them up and tossed them in a big bowl. I chopped three ribs of celery and two Granny Smith apples and added them into the bowl. Next came three green onions, thinly sliced, a handful of dried cranberries and a handful of desiccated coconut (dried, unsweetened). A handful of slivered, toasted almonds, a bunch of seedless grapes (red, green or black - whatever you fancy) cut in half, and some minced yellow onion (half of a small one) followed.
The dressing:
Enough mayonnaise to bind the solid ingredients, a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a good squeeze of honey (or a tablespoon or two, if you don't have a squeeze bottle), kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and a couple tablespoons of sweet curry powder (I use a combination of Penzeys Sweet Curry Powder and Penzeys Maharajah Curry Powder - about a 3:1 ratio), the curry powder toasted in a dry saute pan until fragrant. Mix together and let stand for a few minutes. Fold into the solid ingredients.
Chill for a few hours, until cold and flavors blend and mellow.
Then there's my curried chicken salad.
I find that I just keep adding stuff to it. I can't help myself :).
So, my curried chicken salad. Measurements are vague to non-existent.
I baked six boneless, skinless, chicken breasts for about 40 minutes. If you want to poach them, you can do that instead. After they cooled to room temperature, I chopped them up and tossed them in a big bowl. I chopped three ribs of celery and two Granny Smith apples and added them into the bowl. Next came three green onions, thinly sliced, a handful of dried cranberries and a handful of desiccated coconut (dried, unsweetened). A handful of slivered, toasted almonds, a bunch of seedless grapes (red, green or black - whatever you fancy) cut in half, and some minced yellow onion (half of a small one) followed.
The dressing:
Enough mayonnaise to bind the solid ingredients, a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a good squeeze of honey (or a tablespoon or two, if you don't have a squeeze bottle), kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and a couple tablespoons of sweet curry powder (I use a combination of Penzeys Sweet Curry Powder and Penzeys Maharajah Curry Powder - about a 3:1 ratio), the curry powder toasted in a dry saute pan until fragrant. Mix together and let stand for a few minutes. Fold into the solid ingredients.
Chill for a few hours, until cold and flavors blend and mellow.
