I cannot say that ever in my life have I found chicken salad appealing. It’s the dripping with mayo bit that grosses me out.  You know the salads that look more like a few pieces of chicken were thrown into a vat of mayonnaise, versus the other way around? Yep, scarred for life. Until…. A couple of months ago, I had a delightful lunch at Starbelly which included their curried chicken on some truly great crunchy, airy bread. I was starving after a hot and nasty (in the best send of the word) yoga class and my body for the first time in over a decade said: “get the curry chicken sandwich, NOW.” When my body shouts, I listen. It was divine and not at all a drench of mayonnaise. Of course, I’ve been obsessed with curry chicken salad since and finally had a chance to make it with chicken soup left overs.

(Totally necessary aside: In my humble opinion, one trick to truly tasty chicken salad is to use dark meat. I know everyone is breast crazy – all the 12-year-olds can stop laughing – but, let’s be honest, the white meat? Blah blah blandland. After so many years of not eating chicken, my first taste of white meat was not inspiring in the least; I could happily never eat it again. Dark meat, on the other hand, now that’s some good yum.  So, do yourself a flavor favor and at least use half and half.)

This recipe literally takes five minutes to make. You can absolutely go nutso with more spices, but I was in a hurry, so I stuck with the basics. In fact, one batch (see picture above) was even sans the turmeric and it was still completely satisfying, just not as brightly colored. As I think about it now, a little crushed ginger would be a nice addition also. Final note: personally, I think you can add whatever raw vegetables you like – cucumbers, finely chopped radicchio, onion, shallots, chopped parsley, etc.

So, basically what’s printed below is a good starting place.

Chicken Curry Salad

• 1 heaping C chopped or shredded cooked chicken
• 1 celery rib, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 radish, diced
• 1-2 t curry powder, to taste
• pinch or three turmeric
• 2 T greet yogurt, Vegenaise, or mayonnaise (more if you want it more drippy)
• generous pinch sea salt

How to do it:

1. Mix spices and yogurt (or Vegenaise) in a medium bowl, until well-combined. Add everything else (I like to do one or two ingredients at a time) and stir until chicken and veggies are lightly coated with curry dressing.

2. Done.

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