Friday, September 12, 2008

"Book Club" Chicken Salad

I make this a ton, and people always ask for the recipe. It doesn't come from a recipe . . . it's one of those things that just evolved, so I'll tell you what I've done to get it where it is, and you can play with it some more if you want. I tend to be OCD when I make this, and it comes out chopped really fine, almost like a spread sometimes. That's mostly because I want the onion flavor but I really don't want to bite into any onions. When I make it for other people I leave it a little chunkier. This amount will feed a crowd, and you can freeze the leftovers. Hope you like it!

2.5 -3.5 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts or tenders
1 green apple
1 red onion
enough mayo to make it how you want it
lemon pepper seasoning, any kind you want
salt/pepper to taste

Boil the chicken from frozen until its cooked through. Let it cool some and then cut it up with kitchen shears trimming away any sinewy spots as you go. While the chicken is boiling, wash the apple and cut it up into fairly small pieces, depending on your tastes. For this amount of chicken I use about 3/4 of a decent sized apple. Also cut up the onion now. I chop it a little finer than the onion, and I use way less, just about 1/5 of a medium sized one. Stir everything up with some mayo and lemon pepper.
Everything is to taste, so just start with a little and keep adding till its how you like it, remembering that some flavors get stronger as they sit, so I usually make this the day before and then adjust if I need to the day of. I usually have to add extra mayo when I serve it because it will get absorbed somewhat as it sits. Feel free to lower your fat content by using yogurt if you want, but I don't reccommend low fat mayo. Yuck!

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