Chicken Curry Salad, and Herb Chicken Salad

Garam Masala, a curry blend

By Cat, Aug 2007 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

See also: 1. Salad Menu; 2. Poultry & Fowl Menu; 3. Baked Chicken (for shredding or cubing); 4. Herbs & Spices: Curries, v-3

These are very simple salads to make, and both are by Lucy Lock on the Mercola (1)  website (I’ve lost the individual recipe links).

You can use leftover cooked chicken for these salads, or mKe up a batch of Baked Chicken (for shredding or cubing) and freeze what you don’t use for this salad.

Both salads use nuts, an excellent source of ‘good’ fats and a minor source of protein that add crunch to the salad mix. I always advise sprouting or pre-soaking and drying/toasting nuts to maximize their nutritional benefits. See Soaking & Sprouting: Nuts & Seeds for more info and instructions.

These salads do not use a mayonnaise dressing; rather they use fresh, preferably raw cream, or Crème Fraiche. If that doesn’t appeal to you, another option is to make your own mayonnaise (it’s really easy, using a blender), and then make a dressing using half mayo, half sour cream.

Curry Chicken Salad

Garam Masala, a curry blend

I love using garam masala curry spice mix (photo, left,  from Wikimedia Commons) in this recipe. Another option is to use a curry paste.

I specify ‘Organic’ for the apples and grapes because commercial sprays used on non-Organic fruits are absorbed through the skin of the fruit and thus cannot be washed off. I specify ‘Organic’ for the almonds to avoid irradiation of this delicious nut.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chicken dark meat (or mix of dark and breast meat), cooked and chopped (Note, if you use white meat, brine it first)
• 1 cup Organic Granny Smith apples, chopped
• 1/2 cup Organic seedless green grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup Organic raw almonds (or soaked and dried almonds), sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh raw cream, or Crème Fraiche
• 1/2 teaspoon raw local honey
• 1/2 rounded teaspoon curry paste or powder, or to taste (I use garam masala)

Preparation

1. Place cooked chicken, apples, grapes and almonds in medium sized bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix raw cream or creme fraiche with honey and curry.
3. Mix cream mixture into chicken mixture, to combine.
4. Cover bowl and chill until ready to serve.
5. See below for serving suggestions

Herb Chicken Salad

(photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons) 

NOTE: if you want to pre-soak and dry the cashews, please see Soaking & Sprouting: Nuts & Seeds for precautions. Note also that  cashews sold as “raw” have actually been roasted once or twice to release a toxic oil; thus they cannot be sprouted, only pre-soaked.

Flat-Leaf Parsley

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken dark meat (or mix of dark and breast meat), cooked and chopped
• 1/2 cup ‘raw’ cashews (or pre-soaked & dried)
• 2 stalks Organic celery, chopped
• Small handful organic fresh parsley (Italian or Curly variety)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme or savory leaves, chopped
• 1/3 cup shallots or red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh raw cream, or Crème Fraiche (or more, to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 Tablespoon organic cold pressed virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Place cooked chicken, cashews, celery, herbs and shallots (or onions) in medium-sized bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix raw cream or Crème Fraiche with lemon juice and dijon mustard.  Stir in olive oil.
3. Mix cream mixture into chicken mixture, to combine.
4. Cover bowl and chill until ready to serve.

Serving suggestions for both Chicken Curry and Herb Chicken salads:

• Use as a filling for sandwiches using whole wheat pita bread or real sourdough bread.
• Line salad plates with fresh leaves of organic spinach, washed, and then place a scoop of salad on top.
• Line salad plates with fresh spring greens, washed.  Place a scoop of salad on top, and garnish with thin slices of peeled bosc or Bartlett pears, or ripe cherry (or grape) tomatoes.

References:

1. Mercola’s website: mercola.com