chicken salad

Sunday Picnic Chicken Salad

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Many years ago, Barry worked at a certain chicken sandwich place — for three years in high school and all five years of college, in fact. When he started working there, he learned to make chicken salad from a VHS training video (nope, we are not spring chickens).

Many years later, he tried to make it from memory – he did not remember. 🙂 His creation was nothing like what they had – it was much better! While I tend to think of chicken salad as a summertime dish, my kids ask for it all year, and they don’t really have to twist my arm to get me to make it any time.

This is such an easy make & take recipe for a big gathering – or a small one. I am persnickety about my hot food being really hot, so when we picnic at the lake (which is one of our favorite family activities after work while we continue to social distance) this chicken salad is a frequent choice for us. I really love it served on a King’s Hawaiian Sweet Roll for a slider sized sandwich, but Barry prefers it on the King’s Hawaiian sandwich slices. Either way, it’s fantastic; I’m really glad he couldn’t remember the chicken joint’s recipe! ~Robin

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Trim any excess fat from the chicken, then cut into chunks to boil. Remove chicken from the water carefully once it’s cooked using tongs and place on a large cutting board (make sure it’s completely opaque in the center). Then finely chop the chicken and place in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Chill before serving.

WW Info: This makes 8 generous 2/3 c. servings. On purple or blue, it’s 3 points. On green, it’s 4. Remember to calculate your choice of bread separately.

Avocado Chicken Salad

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Don’t you love it when two of your favorite things come together in perfect harmony?  Things like your favorite song on the radio and being in the car alone, hitting all of the green lights when you’re in a hurry, or the perfect concoction of chicken and avocado?  I know, I know…these things rarely happen, and I’m sorry to say that I can’t help you with the traffic lights.  I can, however, hook you up with the perfect summer combination in this Avocado Chicken Salad!  It’s become one of my favorite summery dinners – especially if I can make it with at least a few of the ingredients right out of my own garden (though I haven’t yet figured out how to grow avocados in the Oklahoma climate).  Everyone in my family goes back for seconds on this dish, and sometimes, when they aren’t looking, I might indulge in a third helping! ~ Tracy

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Ingredients

  • 350 grams of avocado, usually 3 medium avocados
  • ½ c. finely chopped yellow or white onion
  • 3 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ c. grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 medium jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
  • ½ c. cilantro, chopped
  • 2 cups chopped grilled chicken breast
  • Juice of one lime
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Remove the avocado from the rind.  Discard rind and pit.

Roughly mash the avocado with large fork or potato masher.

Mix all ingredients together, stirring gently.

Serve in your favorite tortilla or wrap.

Makes 4 cups.  Each ½ cup serving is 2 WW Freestyle Points.

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Salad

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My goodness it’s a busy time of year. All four of us sisters have been lamenting about the vast amounts of things that need checked off our daily to-do lists. Kids’ baseball games and other activities to shuttle them to, meetings & special trainings and deadlines at work, and various other responsibilities have got us run ragged and longing for one of our girls’ weekends.

Busy times like this call for meal prep. If I can find time to prep a few things to keep on-hand, we usually avoid the fast food drive thru. Last weekend I took the time to boil some chicken to use in various dishes this week. Having cooked chicken in the fridge or freezer is a major time saver on busy weeks… same for bacon (and ground beef). I like to cook up several pounds of bacon, freeze it in a single layer on a cookie sheet (so it won’t stick together), then transfer it to a freezer baggie. A few seconds in the microwave thaws it right out. Bonus: pre-cooking your own bacon is much cheaper than buying the pre-cooked kind at the grocery store.

Since I (almost) always have boiled shredded chicken and cooked bacon in the fridge or freezer, it takes no time to throw this Jalapeno Popper Chicken Salad together for lunch or a quick, no-bake dinner. I serve it on a low carb wrap with some fresh baby spinach. Quick, easy, and so much better than a cold cut sandwich! ~Erin

Here’s the Reader’s Digest Version of how to make it:

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 12 ounces cooked & shredded)
  • 2 fresh jalapenos
  • ÂĽ c. plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • ÂĽ c. light mayonnaise
  • 6 slices center cut bacon, cooked crisp & crumbled
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1 T. brine from a jar of pickled jalapenos, optional
  • ½ cup fat free shredded cheddar cheese
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Chop up 2 jalapenos. This is how I cut them. Cut out the ribs & veins if you don’t like the heat. Leave some of the ribs if you like a little spice!

Salt & pepper the shredded chicken a bit (you can add more later if needed).

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Throw in some Greek yogurt, mayo, lime juice, and a little jarred jalapeno pickling brine if you’re so inclined. Stir it up! Then stir in the bacon and fresh jalapeno pieces.

Lastly, stir in the cheese. I do this last so I don’t totally obliterate the shreds but I don’t know if it really matters. It just makes me feel better to be gentle with the cheese. Ha!

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Ready to serve! I like mine on a wrap with some baby spinach. It’s good on some toasted bread too or just served on a plate with some Ritz crackers. Enjoy!

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