Bites and Bottles

I’ll be honest I used to hate chicken salad! I thought it was something that had to be loaded with mayo, raisins, celery, and mostly likely served luke warm in a large vat at picnics. I was wrong. I now make chicken salad at least once a month. The best part is that it is always evolving and changing. Mine generally becomes a dumpster for what’s in my fridge. I put quite a few ingredients into mine, but you could easily scale it down or even add more!

I often cook a bunch of chicken early in the week to use it in different ways, so this salad doesn’t even involve extra stove time for me. All you need is a sharp knife and a big bowl. One small chicken breast chopped into small pieces is all you need for a serving
For the avocado dressing:
1 avocado mashed.
1 to 2 tablespoons of sour cream. This is mostly to get the creamy texture so use your judgement on how smooth and creamy the avocado is before adding sour cream.
1.5 teaspoons of your favorite mustard.
I often use Trader Joes Everything but the Bagel Seasoning in this dish. If you’re not going that route I would make sure to use at least a bit of salt to help the Avocado along. There are so many flavors in this dish you really don’t need to add a lot of seasonings. I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to spice, but adding some chili powder or hot sauce would be great!

This is the part where you can get crazy, clean out your fridge and make a masterpiece! My recipe generally consists of the following:
1 pickle chopped
5 grapes sliced in half
1/4 cup apple chopped
1 tablespoon onion chopped
1/4 cup carrots grated
1/4 cup tomato diced
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 tablespoon slivered almonds
1 tablespoon sunflower/pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup chopped lettuce/spinach
1/4 cup cheddar cheese grated
Writing this I realized these are items I almost always have in my kitchen. I also understand that some of these things sound odd together, but you can always add or take away ingredients to fit your taste buds
Some other items that would probably be great include:
-Celery
-Snap peas/green beans
-Edamame
-Raisins/dried cranberries
-Pecans/other nuts
-Peppers
-I normally use cheddar, but any cheese would do!

Once you’ve chopped, diced, and shredded your ingredients throw it all into a bowl with your chicken and avocado then mix it all up. That’s it!

As such a versatile dish the vessel you eat it on has a myriad of options as well. Crackers, rice cakes, bread, bagel, the list goes on and on! I try to keep it healthy so I often avoid adding more carbs and just eat it in a bowl! When I used to have a toaster oven I would throw some cheese on a slice of bread and let it get all melty then add the chicken salad on top.

I usually am making meals for myself, so I don’t make a lot. If I’m looking to prep a few meals I will chop everything up ahead of time and just wait to make the dressing until I’m ready to eat each time.

I was super excited to share this recipe, but it turned into quite an inner dilemma as it truly is so flexible. So for this one take my measurements lightly and make your own creation! Let me know if you have any great findings! Happy creating!