I love chicken salad, especially in the summer months.  It’s a great option for entertaining because you can make it ahead of time.  There are so many varieties of chicken salad that it’s hard to get sick of it.  Well, except when you make a huge batch of it and eat it for a week…

One of my all time favorites is Kim’s Chicken Salad.  This simple, traditional version of chicken salad is a go-to, great summer recipe.

Last week, I brought dinner to a family at our church who just had a baby.  I decided to try making curry chicken salad for the dinner, accompanied with this quinoa salad.  These dishes served their purpose as they were easily transportable, no assembly required and ready to eat upon arrival!  I also included salad and crackers as accompaniments for the chicken salad.

Since I planned on serving the chicken salad to some friends that same night, I wanted to make a lot of it.  In retrospect, I probably made too much.  Four chicken breasts would have been plenty.

A note on the chicken: I think it makes a huge difference to get bone-in, skin on chicken breasts.  The meat will be much more tender and it shreds up better.  Don’t be intimidated.

Curry Chicken Salad (Makes 10 generous servings.  Feel free to cut recipe in half.)

Ingredients:

• 6 bone in, skin on chicken breasts
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

• 1 cup mayonnaise (or more, depending your preference; I used Hellman’s Light Mayo and it worked just fine)
• 3 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted*
• 1 cup grapes, halved

*Toast pecans for about 5 minutes on a cookie sheet at 350.

Preheat oven to 350.  Put chicken breasts on baking sheet, skin side up.  Rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook for 35-40 minutes, until meat is cooked through.  Remove from oven and let cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Remove skin and pull meat off of the bone.  This should happen pretty easily.  Chop up chicken into pieces, in the size you prefer.  I’m not super precise in cutting up the chicken.  You can use kitchen shears or a knife.  Place chopped chicken in large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix mayo, curry powder, salt, and lemon juice.  Add mixture to the bowl with chicken and combine, mixing until chicken is coated.  Feel free to taste along the way.  The amount of mayo, curry and lemon depends on your taste buds.  I start with less mayo and add as I go.  I prefer mine to be a little “curry-heavy.”  Add pecans and grapes.  Stir and refrigerate.  I would suggest refrigerating for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy on top of a salad, with Mary’s Gone Crackers, or on toasted GF bread.  I find it perfect with summer heirloom tomatoes.

I often find myself planning my meals around what side dishes I want to serve.  Last week when I was greeted at The Local Farmstand by the arrival of this beautiful asparagus, I knew I had to make it that night for dinner.  Yes, spring is finally here!  When Nicholas dropped off the asparagus, I immediately started planning what I could make that would go well with the asparagus and I thought of our staple weeknight-dish, honey mustard chicken.

I’ve written about honey mustard chicken before, but I just couldn’t resist taking a few photos of this family-favorite last week.  Honey mustard chicken is another entrée that’s perfect for entertaining.  Minimal labor and no work once the guests arrives.  The combination of sweet honey, spice mustard and the kick of curry make a great trio.  I usually serve this dish with a veggie and a grain of choice.  Last week I used leftover quinoa with leeks and green garlic…stay tuned for that recipe.

A last minute dinner idea turned into a delicious feast.  So easy and so delicious.

Honey Mustard Chicken

• 2-6 boneless chicken breasts (depending on how many people you’re trying to feed)
• ½ stick unsalted butter
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup Dijon mustard
• ½-1teaspoon curry powder

Preheat oven to 325. Melt butter over low heat. Remove from burner.
While melted butter is still warm, stir in honey until it mixes with butter. Repeat with mustard. Stir in curry powder.
Place chicken breasts in a Pyrex dish. Pour mixture over chicken. Put in oven and let cook (uncovered) for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes. If mixture gets a little sticky, just add some water.
Remove from oven and serve with rice or another grain. Use the sauce from the dish on the rice as well.

Roasted Asparagus (Serves 3)

• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• S&P

Preheat oven to 375*. Snap off tough asparagus ends and discard.  Put on baking sheet and gently toss to coat in olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for about 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through.  Cooking time can vary with asparagus, depending on how crispy you want it to be.

*Note: I put the asparagus in the oven towards the end of the chicken’s cooking time, so used a 325 degree oven instead of 375.  Once I removed the chicken, I cranked up the heat to 400 for another few minutes.  They turned out delicious.

Enjoy!

Since Puxatony Phil promised us six more weeks of winter, and the weather man guaranteed the east coast frigid rain and serious snow this weekend, I thought you might enjoy a chili recipe to keep you warm on this wet February weekend.

The other day I soaked and cooked a big batch of white beans.  I only used half of them to make my Crusty and Creamy White Beans with Swiss Chard so I put the extra beans in the fridge to save for another time.  Later in the week, our friends, Joel and Mary Stuart, came over for dinner so I decided to invent my own White Bean Chicken Chili recipe with the extra beans.  I loved creating this meal because the only thing I needed to go to the store and buy were the chiles.  Everything else I already had in my pantry or the fridge.  I remember when I first entered ‘grown up world’, I felt like I was always spending lots of money to cook because I had to buy spices and every single ingredient in a given recipe. (Olive oil and spices add up when you’re getting started, but it’s worth it, I promise.)  My mother-in-law assured me that over time I would ‘build a pantry,’ and she was right.  I love just opening the cabinet and seeing what I can use.  Try limiting yourself to just buying produce and meat one week at the grocery store and resorting to the pantry for the rest.  It’s a great way to experiment and be adventurous in the kitchen.  You also get to put to use all those canned goods and dried beans that you’ve been ‘saving.’  Perfect in anticipation of spring cleaning (or if you’re snowed in)!

I usually make a tomato based chicken chili but the white beans in the fridge needed to get used and I was eager to experiment with a new soup to hopefully add to my repertoire of go-to freezable meals.  I’m glad that I gave this chili a try because the results were quite nice flavors and good texture.  The combination of spices worked well together, even though I was a little nervous about it being too spicy for our guests, especially with the chiles.  If you don’t like heat in your chili, I would suggest going a little lighter on the spices.  I had planned on putting a chopped green pepper into the chili as well, but ultimately omitted it because the chiles gave my hearty soup enough color.

Spicy White Bean Chicken Chili (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• 2 4 oz. cans chiles, chopped
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4-5 cups chicken broth (depending on how thick you want your chili)
• 4 cups cooked & drained white beans
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups cooked chicken
• 1 cup frozen corn

Note on cooked chicken: I did this a day in advance because I knew I would be pressed for time the following day.  I used 3 bone-in, skin on chicken breasts. Rub with olive oil, s&p, put in pyrex dish and baked them in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes.  You can also just cook boneless chicken breasts on the stove top.  I prefer the oven because you don’t have to tend to your chicken the whole time it’s cooking.

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven on medium heat.  Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and soft.  Add garlic and cook for another minute, stirring.  Add rice flour and cook for one minute, creating a roux-like concoction.  Add chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper and stir for another 30 seconds.

Add chicken broth, chiles, beans, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Once boiling, turn down to a simmer on medium-low heat and cook for 30 minutes.  (If the chili is bubbling a lot, turn the heat down more.)  Add chicken and corn.  Cook for 30 more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and more spices to taste.  (I always add a little bit of everything at the end.)

Serve warm with fun toppings.  I used white cheddar, sour cream and avacado.  We also enjoyed a yummy salad, grilled peppers stuffed with spicy pepper jack cheese (made by Joel on ‘The Egg’) and Food Should Taste Good sweet potato chips.

I made this chili early in the day and just let it sit on the stove top until dinner, reheating slowly before Joel and Mary Stuart arrived. You can’t really overcook this chili.  Long and slow cooking, makes for a great chili.  Chili, like soup, gets better with time.  David and I ate it for dinner two more nights, each time the flavors melded together better.  I just wish I had more of that chili to eat tonight.  It would be perfect for another cold, rainy night in Atlanta.  Stay warm and dry!