Chicken Salad

This recipe was initially called “Holiday Chicken Salad”. I am thinking the one who named it was thinking of Christmas, because of the dried cranberries. However, I would say this works quite well as a summer holiday (as in vacation) salad as well. The flavours really went very well together, and it made a great chicken salad, either on its own, or in a sandwich.

I think that salads that use a combination of meat, fruit (dried or fresh), vegetables & nuts coated in a mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip) based dressing are fantastic. The combinations are endless. This recipe can be tweaked to fit your likes, or what you have on hand. If you don’t have the dried cranberries, you can use raisins or even fresh grapes. If you don’t have pecans, use walnuts, almonds or sunflower seeds. Using this basic recipe, you can come up with a number of variations. What’s your favorite meat/fruit/nut combo??

[print_this]

Ingredients:
4 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip, in my case)
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped celery
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup minced green bell pepper
1 small apple, finely chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp seasoning salt
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise with paprika and seasoning salt. Blend in dried cranberries, celery, bell pepper, onion, and nuts. Add chopped chicken, and mix well. Season with black pepper to taste. Chill 1 hour.

Source: AllRecipes.com

[/print_this]