Curried Chicken Salad

Gluten free, dairy free, soy and nut free

Recipe by: Jennifer Coatanroch, La Vie Plenty

This has been a family favorite recipe for a few years now. When my son first started eating solid foods about 4 years ago, I was on a mission to create meals that he would like, but that were also healthy and enjoyable for my husband and I. And I was determined to expose him to different flavors in order to develop his taste buds.

Well, I can't say I've completely succeeded in getting him to eat everything I put in front of him, lol, but I'm definitely mostly satisfied with the foods he eats today. Beggars can't be choosers...

By using plain yogurt in addition to mayonnaise, I was able to cut the calories in HALF (when compared to a classic chicken salad with all mayonnaise), and reduce fat grams from 34g per serving to a whopping 17 per serving!! And what's cool is, if you don't tell people there's yogurt in it, they probably wouldn't even know! By keeping just the 1/4 cup of mayo in the recipe, it allows for that classic chicken salad taste without all of the unnecessary calories. Go ahead, have seconds if you like!

I love this recipe because it is so quick and easy to throw together, it is adaptable to whatever you have in your kitchen at the time, it is great for meal prep for the week, it's great for picnics, and it's great to throw in a cooler for a long car ride.

Throw it in a lettuce wrap, serve it with homemade pita chips, or just eat it with a fork!

Bon Appetit!

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Curried Chicken Salad

Quick and easy, kid friendly

Servings: 4 (1 cup portions)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain unsweetened yogurt (I use dairy free)

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise PRINT RECIPE

• 3 Tbl white wine vinegar

• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or chopped*

• 1 large celery stalk, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)

• 1 medium carrot, shredded (about 1/2 cup)

• 1 green onion, chopped (white and light green parts)

• 3/4 cup sliced grapes (or sub 1/4 cup raisins)

• 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, mayonaisse, vinegar, curry powder, turmeric, and salt.

2. Add the chicken breast, celery, carrot and green onion, and toss to coat.

3. Stir in the grapes and cilantro, mixing gently.

Serve chilled. Keeps in the fridge for 3 days.

*Note: Leftover chicken works great in this recipe. And so does a rotisserie chicken picked up from the market if you're running short on time!

To poach chicken for this or other recipes, it's pretty quick:

• Place chicken in a medium saucepan

• Cover the chicken with cold water

• Add salt and pepper (and other veggies if you'd like to make broth to save for the future)

• Bring to a boil

• Cover the pan

• Reduce the heat to low

• Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through (when pierced with a knife, the fluid should be clear).

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Approximate Nutrition Facts Per One Cup Serving:

Calories: 232

Total fat: 17g

Saturated fat: 3g

Monounsaturated fat: 3g

Polyunsaturated fat: 6g

Trans fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 145 mg

Sodium: 474 mg

Potassium: 183 mg

Total Carbohydrate: 10g

Dietary fiber: 1g

Sugars: 7g

Protein: 7g

As a comparison, classic chicken salad made without yogurt and all mayonnaise has approximately 425 calories per 1 cup serving and 34g fat!