Not Your Mother's Chicken Salad

I have found that most times you order chicken salad, it all tastes about the same.  Not a lot of different flavors mixed in, just chicken, mayo, celery, and onion.  Occasionally you'll find one with something different.  The one thing that bugs me most about the typical chicken salad is how it almost always has chicken that is super shredded (You know what I'm talking about, that pulverized, ground up kind of chicken...)  Well all credit goes to my mom on this one.  She figured out a better way to make chicken salad.  Hence why I say it's not your mother's chicken salad, it's my mothers :P

So here's the trick.  Go down to your local grocery store, even your local Super Wal-Mart, and grab one of those precooked rotisserie chickens in the plastic box.  (And yeah, if it's winter we all like to stand by those stands in line with the radiating heat).  When you get it home, go on and peel the skin off while it's still warm.  Then let it cool off in the refrigerator for a few hours.  I've found that makes this next step a little easier.  Once the chicken has cooled down, Get a big bowl and start picking.  

I find that the perfect sized pieces are about 1 1/2 inches long at the longest and no bigger around than a pencil.

 You will find that the fibers of the muscle naturally want to separate to a certain extent.  The dark meat seems to separate easier than the white meat into good sized pieces (as can be seen above).  The white meat seems to be much stringier.  So once you've picked all the chicken you'll have a bowl like this:

You'll want a pretty decent sized bowl to accommodate everything that goes into this salad.

Here is where the recipe gets fun.  You can add just about anything to the salad from this point on.  Some things are basic, onions and celery.  I tend to use red onions in everything because I like their flavor better.  Another basic item I tend to include is corn.  When I can get it, I use fresh corn on the cob, Unfortunately this time of year I'm not seeing any corn in the produce other than the cobs that come in a plastic wrapped package.  Using fresh corn is the best option as it adds some crispness.

 

So after you add the basics, you add the not-so-basic.  I tend to add just about anything.  I find fruit and nuts to be a great addition.  If I had thought to get some, I would have added chopped up walnuts.  However I have an abundance of almonds, so I chopped some up (using an apple slicer works really well if you don't have a super sharp knife).  I also like to add fruit for a bit of juice and of course, more flavors.  Raisins are always a good addition.  I also gave something new a try and added some Granny Smith apples for the tartness.

I used fairly large chunks this time, next time I plan on using smaller chunks just to make them easier to eat.

Now for the easy part.  Put all of your "stuff" into the big bowl and grab a spatula or a wooden spoon (Plastic works just as well too).  Grab a jar of mayonnaise. Slowly add mayo to your mixture and stir it all up.  I find that the key to making this salad good is only adding enough mayo to keep stuff together, as if you were going to put the salad onto a sandwich.  That's the consistency you're looking for.

Voila, chicken salad!

Now that you've made the salad, pop that into the refrigerator for at least a few hours to have everything chilled.  When you're ready to serve it, serve on a bed of lettuce (or spinach or whatever greenery you prefer), and some chopped or sliced up tomatoes.  (Use the freshest ones you can.

Bam!

That's the great thing about the way we make chicken salad in our family.  It's never the same twice!  Don't hesitate to experiment, be daring.  That is the biggest secret to my cooking.  I experiment and try new things.  It has taken years, but I've learned what flavors go well together without writing a thing down.

Enjoy and as always, may God bless your kitchen!!