Customizable Chicken Salad {recipe}

When I think of chicken salad I definitely conjure up an image of a warm, summer afternoon, eating a picnic in a park. Go figure that I can’t remember the last time I actually went on a picnic, or the fact that I’ve had this chicken salad more times in the spring, fall, and winter than in the summer. It’s funny how there are different seasons for food.

Chicken salad is such a fast, go-to meal, and I love that you can make extras and keep it in the fridge for easy access during the week. When we were in Alabama last year, my friend took me to a restaurant that only served chicken salad. It’s aptly called, Chicken Salad Chick, and they have dozens of different flavor combinations (okay, really just 16, but that they’re basically the 31 flavors when it comes to chicken salad). I took my husband there one day and he gobbled his order down before I could even ask him how it tasted.

Heh, speaking of “gobble,” you can make this with leftover turkey, say, from Thanksgiving. Rotisserie chicken, works great, too (go to the grocery store at the end of the day and they’re sometimes on super sale since they need to sell them ASAP). I also often make this with regular ol’ boiled chicken, or if I have more time on my hands (and if the husband’s home), he’ll grill chicken for me.

The recipe is pretty simple, and I usually taste as I go to make sure it’s heading in the right direction. Consider the following as a base recipe and then go from there. Also keep in mind that the flavors will mingle more and come together as it sits in the fridge, so it will taste even better after you make it.

Customizable Chicken Salad
adapted from Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
2 lb chicken (chopped, minced, shredded or however you like the texture)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 celery stock, diced
1/2—3/4 cup (homeade) mayo
1/2—1 avocado
1 Tablespoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Grab a bowl. Chop up the onions, celery, and chicken (or use a food processor to make it even faster), dump the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and mix, mix, mix. Add in any extras (just a handful of each usually works well. (If I’m adding nuts, I usually add them right before I eat so they can maintain their crunch.)

Make it. Eat it. Love it.