Chicken Salad

Sun, 10/12/08 – 9:03 PM | 21 Comments

Any southerner worth their salt has a great chili recipe, preferably a signature one. This is why I set out several years back trying out this one and that, tweaking and adding until I came …

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Submitted by southernplate on Thursday, October 30, 200816 Comments

This fits into the category of a “non recipe” for me but Mama swears up and down there is someone out there who would like to see how we make chicken salad. So, I’m gonna mind my Mama and post it. Whenever a Southerner “Swears up and down” about something, its in your best interest to believe them :).

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet because I am getting ready to go see my son in his violin recital! They actually teach violin to third graders in our public schools, how cool is that? Both myself and my Grandaddy played violin “back in the day” and My Grandaddy and I always enjoyed going back and forth over whether it was a violin or a fiddle. Of course, it all depends on the music you play. I was learning to play classical music at the time and Grandaddy was more of a “Lil’ Brown Jug” type guy. I now have my violin and my Grandaddy’s fiddle. I miss seeing him play it. My Grandaddy could pick up any instrument and play a tune after just plucking a few strings to hear how it sounded. He even made instruments in his shop out of jugs, wood planks, and a few guitar strings and played the most lively songs on them! I was very close to my Grandaddy and you’ll end up hearing a lot about him in future posts. But for now, I suppose I should get back to chicken salad.

How many of you have tried the chicken salad sandwich from Arby’s? It is utterly divine in every possible fashion. I know some of you are thinking “A chicken salad sandwich from a fast food place?”. Trust me, its sooooooooo good and this one is right on the money!

I used some leftover smoked chicken I had. Leftover rotisserie chicken is great in this but any chicken will do, even canned. We’ll be making enough for about two chicken salad sandwiches.

I have a small apple, handful of pecans, handful of grapes, and about a cup of chicken.

Coarsely chop your pecans, grapes, and apples.

If your chicken is in large pieces, give that a little chopping, too. Add about a half cup of mayonaise.

Stir that up and add salt and pepper to taste. As you can see, I used about a 1/4 tsp of each.

The bread I chose was this great “Wheat berry” bread made by Nature’s Own, which I got at Wal Mart.

I placed a few pieces of lettuce to line my bread with and then piled it high!

Didn’t that make a pretty sandwich?

My Katy said it was too “puffy” so she fixed that for me.

Chicken Salad
(A lot like Arby’s)

1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
1/2 C grapes
1/2 C pecans
1/2 C mayo
1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper
1 small apple

Coarsely chop apple, grapes, and pecans. Place in bowl with chicken, mayo, salt, and pepper. Stir until combined. Serve on bed of lettuce or lettuce lined bread.

*I used Wheat Berry Bread from Nature’s Own which I purchased at Wal Mart.

Share and Enjoy:

16 Comments »

1

plantaddict said:

Get out of my head, lady! You seem to know exactly the kind of recipes I want to see. I was just thinking yesterday that I’d like to have a nice fruity chicken salad!

- October 30, 2008 at 3:33 pm

2

Lindsay said:

Looks just like my mom makes it! Yum!

- October 30, 2008 at 3:39 pm

3

Southern Plate said:

LOL!
I’m glad I could provide!!

~slips the aluminum foil cap back over her head and glares intently at you while she hums~
“Now to see what I need to post tomorrow….”
~winks and grins~
Christy

- October 30, 2008 at 3:47 pm

4

Aine said:

This is certainly a “must try”, both the recipe and the Arby’s sandwich. I’m not sure that my sandwich will be as good as yours unless your Katy can smoosh it for me. What a marvelous pic!!!

- October 30, 2008 at 4:50 pm

5

Kim said:

I am SO glad someone finally posted this recipe! I, too, was in awe of how great Arbys’ chicken salad is. I’ve tried to duplicate it at home, but it wasn’t quite right. I’ll have to try this recipe now!

- October 30, 2008 at 5:00 pm

6

~Tammy~ said:

Every Southern Gal needs a good recipe for chicken salad.
I’ve never liked the Arby’s though…but sit me down in a tea house and I always order chicken salad….yummy!

Like the others, you have “flung a cravin’ on me”…as my Hubby says!

Be blessed today!♥

- October 30, 2008 at 6:43 pm

7

wannaquilt1 said:

No problem with the emails! I got your recipe for Dishpan cookies - just what I needed! I was looking for a good recipe to send to school for the kids’ Halloween party!

- October 30, 2008 at 7:49 pm

8

Laura said:

I love Chicken Salad! I’m soo glad you posted this recipe. Sounds so easy….and yummy! I make mine a different way.

Laura-Athens

- October 30, 2008 at 10:06 pm

9

Joan said:

That chicken salad looks great. I love it when there is that little bit of sweet from the fruit.
Your picture looks great. That little hand is precious!

- October 31, 2008 at 12:08 am

10

Stephanie said:

That looks so delicious with the apples, pecans, and grapes. Yum!

- October 31, 2008 at 2:20 am

11

stephen said:

in texas, violins have strings and fiddles have strangs.

i’ve never used grapes. will do!

- October 31, 2008 at 3:42 am

12

BillGent said:

Now this is funny, I took violin when I was in Elementary school too. I wish I woulda stuck with it but alas.. I did not.

As far as the chicken salad.. It looks good but my dad would never eat it.. he hates his meals to be sweet. It just ain’t natural to him lol.

- October 31, 2008 at 3:58 am

13

Su said:

Wait, wait!!! Did you say CANNED chicken?!?!
Now I have heard of everything!
You must really think we’re quite primitive here in Australia. haha

- October 31, 2008 at 6:27 am

14

Darius T. Williams said:

Soooo - I’m on the commuter train going into work and today we’re having a food day for Halloween. Guess what’s sitting in the seat on my left…you guessed it - chicken salad! It’s all white meat, low fat mayo, sour cream, fuji apples, parsley, a touch of honey, and some soul seasonings. I made a bit too much (you know how it is - when you cook waaaay more than you have to just because) and I had some for breakfast. Delish! I love a great seasoned chicken salad!

-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

- October 31, 2008 at 12:37 pm

15

Lacylamb said:

Oh, I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have some frozen chicken breasts but need the grapes and apples. To the grocery store I go.

- November 2, 2008 at 11:09 pm

16

sweepea said:

PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, NOW HEAR THIS:

acquaint yourself with the benefits of lazy poaching–it will make MANY dishes much quicker, especially if you just need a quick bite without all the fat (as much as i love thee, blessed fat.)

the laziest, easiest version of the poach:

take a small saucepan, fill half to midway with tap water and boil, then drop in a frozen chicken breast,or cheaper even (bare) chicken tenderloin hunks from one of those big wally world bags and continue boiling for around 10 minutes. THAT’S IT!!! (but i always into mine on a small saucer to make sure it’s cooked fully first!)

from there, feel free to shred the meat with a fork for a quick bbq sammieon toast, or a fast foldover sammie with whatever you like, or diced/shredded to your liking for a million things, like chicken salad. all in lieu of more expensive rotisserie chicken, too!

of course, you can always toss things in the boiling water like garlic or onion or herbs, and/or use fresh or high quality chicken, but that defeats the purpose of the sloth of this workaround.

enjoy! now, off to the recipe…

- November 8, 2008 at 4:12 am