Thursday, March 24, 2011

Curry Chicken Salad for the Ladies


I love, love, love Ladies' Luncheon Food.  It's delicious, it's light, it's fancy.  It's fun to eat.

And it's different from regular food, right, ladies?

Classic Ladies' Luncheon is, of course,  Chicken Salad, and this is my favorite, even more than Helen Corbetts' Neiman Marcus Chicken Salad.  And that's pretty darn good.

You can change this up any way you please!   Poached salmon or smoked turkey instead of poached chicken; you can add apples or mangos or mandarin slices or dried cherries instead of grapes,  you can add nuts,  it's just whatever your little ol' capricious heart desires.  Ladies' Choice.

So here is my choice.

You will need 1 cooked (I poach mine, that is, simmer in seasoned water until cooked) chicken breast for every 2-3 servings.   Cooked rice, and that can be ANY rice.  I mixed wild and brown rice together.  This is about 3/4 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup of wild and it was plenty for 10.
I always remember a friend lamenting that you just have to cook the dawg out of wild rice, but I don't agree.  I cooked it along with the brown and then added a little more water and cooked a little longer and even though it's not split apart and curled,  neither is it  rock hard.  It  tastes cooked.  So there.

And this:
Celery (about 3-4 stalks)


Green onion (tops only, you don't want to ruin your day)


Grapes (red, green, doesn't matter but seedless) about 20, quartered.  They were so darn big.


White pepper (1/2 tsp.)
Salt (1 tsp.)
Curry Powder (1and 1/2 tsp.)
Lemon juice
Mayonnaise (1c.)
Greek Yoghurt (not in group photo) (1/2 c.)


Olive oil (2T.)

And, Major Grey's Chutney.
This is IMPORTANT.  Major Grey's Chutney is a jam made with mangos, tamarind, lime and spices, and it adds such an interesting sweetness.



So, slice your celery, onion tops and grapes up into a bowl.  Squeeze a lemon over it and toss so that the grapes don't turn brown.





Then mix up the rest.  Quantities don't really matter that much, just use your judgement.  Add olive oil to loosen it up a bit.  Pour it over the rice/vegetables/fruit/chicken mixture.  Mix well with clean hands or instruments.







This tastes better when refrigerated overnight.

I'm serving with Banana/Pineapple Bread and cream cheese/butter.


It's really, really good.  Ladies will like it.



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