Curried Chicken Waldorf Salad

We have started a tradition of going apple picking around this time every fall.  This year, we came home with some of the biggest apples ever!  Have you ever heard of Melrose apples?  They are delicious; crisp, sweet and little tart.

I had also made a huge pot of chicken stock that day to make some hot soup to come home to.  So with an abundance of apples and a whole cooked chicken, I just had to do something to combine the two.  This salad seemed perfect!

This recipe is a much healthier version of an original that uses lots of mayonnaise!  The combination of mayonnaise and yogurt is really wonderful and doesn’t taste “light”.

If you don’t have pre-cooked chicken already, the rotisserie chickens at the grocery store are a good option, but poaching a couple of chicken breasts is quite easy too, with less fat and sodium. I’ll tell you how to do that below.  They turn out very moist and tender.

If you wrinkled your nose when you first read the word “curry” as my husband usually does, give this a try.  He says he doesn’t like curry, but whenever I use it, he loves it.  The curry is not overpowering in this at all.  In fact, if you’d like, you can increase the curry up to 1 teaspoon.

Served over a bed of greens, this salad is a treat for lunch.  My daughter actually took this to school today.  It packs up so easily for lunch on-the-go.

Curried Chicken Waldorf Salad

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• ▢ juice and zest of half of a lemon
• ▢ 1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
• ▢ 3 heaping tablespoons plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoons curry
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ black pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 - 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken in large pieces
• ▢ 1 large apple cubed
• ▢ 2 inner stalks of celery with leaves chopped
• ▢ 1/2 cup golden raisins
• ▢ 1/4 cup chopped walnuts toasted
• ▢ mixed greens

Instructions

• ▢
  In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, mayonnaise, yogurt, curry, sea salt and pepper. Add the chicken, apple, celery, raisins and walnuts. Toss to coat all of the ingredients. Serve on a bed of mixed greens.

Notes

In place of the golden raisins, you can use red seedless grapes.

To toast the walnuts, place in a dry pan over medium heat.  Keep a close eye on them and toss them frequently until you begin to smell their nuttiness.

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How to Poach Chicken Breasts

This method could not be easier. Just keep the heat low once the chicken is in the pan.

Poached Chicken Breasts

chicken stock or water

Place the breasts and remaining ingredients in a pan.  If using water, add about 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.  If using the chicken stock, omit the salt. The chicken stock or water should just cover the breasts.

Bring the stock or water to a boil and immediately lower the heat to a very low simmer. If you boil the chicken, the meat tends to get rubbery.  Cover the pan, leaving the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, keeping covered and let them sit for another 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Allow the breasts to cool before shredding for the salad.