Rosemary Chicken Salad

I made chicken salad on Saturday for M.'s baby shower and, loving this new blog, looked to it for some inspiration. What I ended up making was a hybrid between my standard chicken salad and this one-- basically I just made my old salad but used some of her ideas (using one half Greek yogurt instead of straight mayonnaise, a hint of Dijon, rosemary) and was very pleased with the results. I use toasted slivered almonds, cucumber, and celery in my salad and also threw in some green onions this time, for effect. Anyway, everyone liked the salad, so I'll blog this recipe here as a remind to myself that next time I made chicken salad I might make my hybrid again.

From a Hint of Honey:
http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2009/01/rosemary-chicken-salad-sandiwches.html

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and diced
1/3 C. green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 C. smoked almonds, chopped (I use toasted slivered almonds)
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
3 T. nonfat Greek yogurt
3 T. mayonnaise
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Whole wheat bread or pita, for serving (I still think eating chicken salad with a cheddar dill scone is amazing.)

Directions:

1. Toss to combine chicken, onions, almonds, and rosemary in a medium bowl. Add yogurt, mayonnaise, and Dijon, stirring to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: Serves 4

Coleslaw

I have never made coleslaw before in my life. I don't like coleslaw. I don't eat coleslaw. But my friend B. is putting on a big surprise bash for her missionary boyfriend who is leaving later this month, and asked for help with the cooking. I agreed to help and was assigned the coleslaw. And as Janie W. reminds, "Friends say When How Will Do and Done." And so it is. I slawed away.

First thing I did was look up on Epicurious for a recipe that fit the ingredients I was given by B. and the other things I had on hand. Also, I wasn't going to compromise and use a recipe that was second rate. If I am going to slaw, I am going to slaw well. I finally found a five-fork recipe that fit my ingredients. The original Epicurious recipe is given first, then how I actually made it. Note, I was cooking slaw for 75-80 people, and made two batches of the recipe given below.

Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds cabbage, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour over cabbage, onion, pepper, and carrot in one large bowl and stir until uniformly coated. Allow to chill at least four hours to give flavors time to combine.

Me

Ingredients:

3 pounds cabbage/carrot mix
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
2 packages grated carrot
1 3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup (overflowing) apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Generous dash white pepper
Two generous dashes ground cloves

Directions:

Same as above. Whisk white pepper and cloves in with the mayonnaise mixture.

I'm not sure what ideal coleslaw is really supposed to taste like, and it will be different when the flavors have commingled overnight, but I hope that this coleslaw is tasty... as tasty as a slaw can be.

(This was really quite easy to make. The real trick was fitting two huge catering tin foils of this in the fridge! Now that was a triumph.)