Dinner Party – Leftovers – Chicken Salad – and Side Dishes for Another Meal –

 

Leftovers – rice pilaf, broccoli salad – chicken

We hosted a small dinner party last night with a few friends and family. We served baked chicken, rice pilaf, broccoli salad, a pineapple-banana fruit cup, and a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Only two of us had a slice of cheesecake, so we have a lot of it left for another day. (This won’t help my diet effort. I love cheesecake way too much!)

Before I baked the two five-pound-plus chickens, I planned what I would do with leftovers. Chicken salad. We both like it, but Steve likes one version, and I like another. The solution? I made both versions.

Steve’s Chicken Salad: Steve likes more mayo than I do, and he likes sweet pickle relish in his.

Carol Ann’s Chicken Salad: I like less mayo, and I like chili pepper, Tabasco sauce, and Hot and Sweet Pepper Jelly in mine.

 

Making Chicken Salad: First select the breast pieces. Remove skin and bones. (There are hidden bones in chicken breast). Cut the chicken into small pieces. Put the pieces into a food processor, (I used my Cuisinart) or chop the pieces by hand. Divide the chopped chicken into two bowls. (If you were to choose one version, would it be mine or Steve’s?)

His and Her Versions of Chicken Salad

Add to Steve’s bowl a good-sized scoop of mayonnaise, a small squirt of Dijon mustard, and a nice portion of sweet pickle relish. Mix together and decide if you want more mayo. Steve likes a lot of mayo.

Add to Carol Ann’s bowl a not-as-large scoop of mayonnaise, a small squirt of Dijon mustard, several shakes of the red pepper, a few squirts of Tabasco sauce. Taste. (Sure enough, something was missing!) Ah, add a tablespoon of Hot and Sweet Pepper Jelly.

Note: Chopped celery is a delicious addition to Carol Ann’s version. Steve doesn’t like it. I had celery, but I didn’t take the time to add this to my chicken salad. I was tired and lazy.

Another good flavor to add is sour cream. Sometimes I use mayo and sour cream, about a 3 to 1 ratio.

The finished products: Mine and his evening snack food – chicken salad.

You are welcome to share your secrets for chicken salad. Blessings…