My Favorite Chicken Salad

By Joanne Rigutto

I love chicken salad. It's great in a sandwich, as a side, with vegetables, or on a salad with greens. And it's a great way to extend the use of a roast chicken. I usually like to roast a chicken, then the next day, use the breast for chicken salad and turn the rest of the carcass, along with the left over roast vegitables and onion, into soup. I can usually get 8-10 meals out of a 5# chicken that way, and we keep from getting 'sick' of chicken. This recipe is great with turkey also, and would be equally as good with guinnea fowl.

This is a simple, basic recipe to which you can add your own flourishes and seasonings. I season everything to taste, and where I can I use actual measurements, such as for the celery, onion and amount of chicken. Where there are no fixed measurements, such as for the seasoning, start with 1/8 t of each (except for the salt and pepper) and add from there.


1 whole breast from a roasted chicken
1/2 head celery including the leaves from the heart stalks
1 small yellow onion
1/2 - 3/4 cup Mayonaise
1/2 tablespoon Coarse ground mustard
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (I like sea salt but any salt will do)
1/4 bunch cilantro leaves chopped

Seasonings - start with 1/8 teaspoon and add from there if you'd like more
Garlic granules
Onion granules
Italian dry spice mix - oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage.
Cumin
Corriander
Curry powder

Chop the celery coarse and chop the onion and cilantro fine. Cube the chicken breast. Combine in a large bowl with the mayonaise and mustard. Add the seasonings and mix. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Enjoy!