How to Make (Healthy and Delicious) Chicken Salad

So, I found yet another blog that I absolutely love. This one is called Life as MOM, and it's written by Jessica Getskow Fisher (a.k.a. FishMama), who is the mom of six kids ranging from about 1-13 years old. (BTW, her first FOUR kids are ALL BOYS, which is precisely the reason that I will not continue to have another kid just to "try for a girl.") What I love about her blog is that she posts several times a day, and has all kinds of useful advice for a mom like me. She is a big proponent of "freezer cooking"- i.e., making food ahead of time and storing it in the freezer for quick and easy meals (which makes a lot of sense if you're feeding eight people, three meals per day). She does batch cooking once a month, throws it in the freezer, and then has her entire menu planned for the month. She also "hosts" frequent recipe swaps on her blog, most recently with recipes for cool foods.

So, from the cool foods recipe swap, I came across a blog from Anne at Quick & Easy, Cheap & Healthy. She shared how she makes a delicious chicken salad using yogurt instead of mayo, and various other ingredients depending on her tastes and what she has on hand at the time. Which means, it's a totally adaptable recipe that anyone can make, and the possibilities are practically endless.

Anyhow, here's Anne's recipe: She has the same "starters" every time: chicken (cubed or shredded, could be substituted with turkey, tuna, or hard boiled eggs), plain yogurt, dill relish (or small finely chopped pickle), and occasionally a splash or two of ranch dressing.
After those main ingredients, here's some possibilities that can be added in:
*celery
*dried cranberries or raisins
*grapes
*chopped or grated apples
*cucumber
*grated zucchini
*shredded or finely diced carrot
*walnuts, almonds or other nuts
*pumpkin or other seeds
*sweet peas
*fresh or dried herbs (parsley, basil, dill weed, etc.)
*spices (garlic salt, freshly ground pepper, etc.)
*possible toppings: lettuce, avocado, red onion, cheese, pickles
*can be served on lettuce, pita, sandwich bread, flat bread, as a wrap, with crackers


Chicken salad is one of my favorite things, but I've never made it before in my life. I'm not sure why- probably partially because I figured it wasn't very healthy for me, and partially because I didn't have a good recipe. But after reading Anne's blog, I figured I'd give it a try. So, here's a recipe for the chicken salad that I made.

Christy's Chicken Salad:

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into chunks (I used leftovers from the night before that I had marinated in Italian dressing and then grilled)
• 4 ounces of vanilla yogurt (I would have used plain, but that's what was in the fridge. And it turned out to be really yummy)
• Montreal chicken seasoning, reduced sodium (I use a lot of this seasoning- yum! But it's mostly a combo of garlic, onion, pepper and paprika)
• Dill weed
• Red grapes, halved
• Dried cranberries
• Roasted almonds, chopped (I would have used slivered, but again, this is what was on hand)

Of course, I should have taken a picture, but instead Chris and I just ate it all up before that occurred to me. But it was quite pretty with the colorful grapes and cranberries. And tasty!

What do you like in your chicken salad?