Thoughts of LoWriter

Yummy Chicken Salad Goodness

Here it is, kids. This is a recipe I made up myself this weekend, and for once, it's one I feel like I can share with other people who will then also enjoy eating it (unlike, say, my salsa rice that I mix up in the microwave when I am craving Mexican food).

Here's what you will need:

1 can of chuck chicken (found next to the tuna in the canned meat aisle)(I like to get the bigger size, but I also enjoy chicken salad a lot.)
Two or three stems of celery
Some Miracle Whip
Tarragon (I used fresh, but I'm sure it would work just as well and be three times as easy to use dried)
Dill Weed (This totally came from the bottle.)
Some bread
A roma tomato (if you like them) (I have not tried this yet, but I am going to try it with the leftovers this evening. I've had it with plain chicken salad, and I can't imagine that it would be anything less than amazing with this version.)

Here's what you should do:

1. Drain the chicken and put it into a bowl.

2. Mix the chicken with some Miracle Whip. Just use however much you like. If you like your chicken salad a little dry or if you feel like chicken with Miracle Whip isn't low-fat enough and you need to save some calories, use less.

3. Chop the celery into small pieces and throw that in.

4. Cut the leaves off a few stems of tarragon, dice them, and toss them in. I would recommend a few things here. First, don't use the stems. They're kind of chewy. Maybe you aren't even supposed to eat them. I don't know. Leave them out, anyway, because they're just annoying. Also, do a little at a time. Tarragon has an interesting savory, minty, lemony flavor (which I feel is delightful), and it can get overpowering in a hurry. It takes a bit to flavor the chicken, but you don't want to get too much either. Dice the leaves from a stem or two, and then taste it. Probably you should taste it before you throw it in at all, too, and make sure you like it. If you decide to get the dried stuff, just shake it in to taste. You could probably substitute rosemarry if you wanted to.

5. Sprinkle in dill weed to taste. You might want to sample some of this on a bite of the chicken salad before you dump it in, too. I think it adds a nice little summpin-summpin to compliment the tarragon, but I like a lot of weird things.

6. Spread on cottage bread. (I imagine that it would be quite lovely on rye bread, too.)

7. Add a couple slices of roma tomato if you so desire.

8. Enjoy. (Feel free to make "Mmmm" noises.)

I'm sure it would also go well with a nice Pinot Grigio. I could not try this because I was proofreading, but you should consider it.

How did I come up with this? Well, I was pissed off that my entire weekend involved a manuscript and a brief trip to the grocery store (I missed a pool party and because my phone was off, I also missed an invite to DDR it up with D and Linds) (sorry guys). So I thought up a nice (and quick because I was working) meal reward for myself for all my hard work. It shouldn't be too bad calorie-wise. Salad dressing is not the best for you, but if you use the light version, you should be all right.

That's all I know. If you think this is a terrible recipe (or if you think it's good but yours is better) feel free to share a different one in the comments.

Posted by LoWriter at July 31, 2006 11:55 AM