We are loving fresh meals this summer. Salads, chicken salads, anything off the grill with some fresh vegetables. Yes, summer food is good! A new recipe I've added this year is this chicken salad. My husband is not a fan of chicken salads that have fruit in them and neither of us likes celery all that much. Both common in most chicken salads. I usually just make one with some mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, and chopped dill pickles. But pickles are imported and mayo is fattening. So when I ran across this recipe on the Cooking Light website I thought we'd like it. We DO! With a couple adaptations anyway! I have been making pita bread to serve with it, but it would be great on just regular sandwich bread or crackers. Its great by itself, but would be equally good adding a little tomato and lettuce for extra crunch and freshness! The original recipe does call for olives--Brian doesn't like them, so I leave them out and just put them in mine if I have some on hand (I can buy a jar at Carrefour for pretty cheap). I think they add a nice flavor (I have tried black, not green). Even my kids ate this the other night and enjoyed it!
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
1 cup Greek Yogurt
2 Tbs lemon juice
3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4-1/2 cup sliced olives (opt)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Pita Bread or other sandwich bread or crackers, lettuce, tomato, etc.
Combine yogurt, lemon juice, and spices; mix well. Add chicken, bell pepper, onion, olives and cilantro and stir gently to combine. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve cold.
Notes: This keeps at least 24 hours. I've served it one day and had it for leftovers the next and its been fine.
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
1 cup Greek Yogurt
2 Tbs lemon juice
3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4-1/2 cup sliced olives (opt)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Pita Bread or other sandwich bread or crackers, lettuce, tomato, etc.
Combine yogurt, lemon juice, and spices; mix well. Add chicken, bell pepper, onion, olives and cilantro and stir gently to combine. Adjust seasoning as needed. Serve cold.
Notes: This keeps at least 24 hours. I've served it one day and had it for leftovers the next and its been fine.
Oh my goodness, I cannot wait to try this! mmmmm.....
ReplyDeleteWe had this last night and it was great! When you said "olives" did you mean black or green? I had both so I used half of each:) Our grocery stores carry pitas, so we stuffed them. I had a bit of leftover Feta and so we tried it. It's yummy with or without! Without the feta the salad (overall, in humble opinion)tastes like a nice fresh salad and even almost kinda 'sweet.' The feta added some saltiness and tasted great too. Think I'll be fixing this often!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it! The original recipe called for green olives, but I used black because that's what I usually have on hand. Green would add more a saltiness than black. What I wouldn't give for feta to put in this! I LOVE feta. And I think you were right on that it'd be a great addition! You can sometimes find it in an import place in our city but its really expensive, so I've never bought any. I think that the red bell pepper does add a "sweet" flavor. Its been soup weather here, but man, now you have me thinking this salad would be yummy!
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