"Lightened Up" Sucks; This Recipe Doesn't

Let's talk mayonnaise; either you love it or you hate it. I’m strictly in the “love” camp, but I can see the revulsion; something about that gelatinous white substance just doesn’t sit right with some people. To them I ask, what’s going on in your BLT, is it just dry toast? Mayonnaise makes everything better; sandwiches, dips, salads. There’s no healthier ingredient for your salad than mayonnaise, I always say. Spinach, take a walk.

Mayonnaise based salads are such a catch 22; they’re best in the summer, but then you have the whole, well, it’s been sitting out all day, but those potatoes were yellow and oozy to start with, weren’t they? Fuck it, it’s going on my plate. You can’t have a BBQ w/out potato salad, it just wouldn’t be right. 

The other catch about mayo is kind of the lesser known evil; I don’t know if you’re aware…but I guess it’s not that healthy? Sorry to burst your bubble, America. Don’t worry, though, I’ve got a recipe where you won’t even miss that gloppy deliciousness. Well, maybe only just a little. 

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy the mayo salads assortment: potato, egg, macaroni, and…wait for it…chicken. I’ll go HAM on a good chicken salad. It’s one of those dishes I sometimes forget about b/c it can be made so “eh.” But when it’s made properly? Cue the heart eyed emoji times twenty. 

I had some chicken that had been in the freezer for awhile (and by awhile I mean that chicken definitely came w/ us in the move....last year...), so I baked it off and shredded it. I wasn’t 100% sure about what to do w/ it until I saw an email from my old gym with some healthy recipes and did a double take when I saw chicken salad. I don’t know about you, but the chicken salad I know and love is smothered in mayo. Last I checked, fitness experts aren’t big advocates of the stuff.

This recipe subbed coconut milk for the mayo, which I immediately rejected since Brent doesn’t like coconut anything (which is cocoNUTS if you ask me). I did a little Pinterest searching and saw a recipe with Greek yogurt instead. This intrigued me, but I was still wary; I didn’t want my salad to have that punch of tang Greek yogurt is known for. Then I remembered one of the sous chefs at my old restaurant would put up chicken salad with avocado, which was absolutely my favorite staff meal. I played around with it, and I suggest you go do the same.

Easy, Healthy Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 avocados

¼ cup plain Greek yogurt 

¼ cup celery, diced
1lb chicken, roasted and shredded
1T fresh lemon juice
2t curry powder 

1T salt
1T pepper 

Directions: 

Mash the avocados and Greek yogurt together until smooth. Add celery and chicken and mix. Squeeze in lemon juice. Add curry powder, salt and pepper (more or less to taste) and stir until everything is evenly coated. Serve on a bun, celery stick, or fork; it’s that easy. 

The beauty of this recipe is that it’s just a base; play it up to your tastes however you like. It would probably be fab w/ some red onion, but I didn’t have one in the house. Almonds are pretty classic in chicken salads, and no doubt they’d be delicious in here. Don’t like curry powder? Substitute it for something you do like. 

And that’s how you do dinner on a lazy Thursday; over and out.