I can feel it coming in the air toniiiiiight, oh lord. The humidity. The send-your-hair-into-kinks-and-fuzz-you’ve-never-before-seen-the-likes-of airborne dampness. This means that I have officially made the switch to iced coffee. And for lunch I am thinking of ways to keep cool and crisp as a piece of celery standing upright in a glass of water. It is not hot, and I do not mean to sound as if I’m complaining. It’s just that I’m a bit of a wilter. Not because I am in possession of a delicate constitution, but because I’m a hot-blooded American woman.
That said, earthy and ethereal girls alike can partake in what I think is one of the most elegant, ladylike things one can eat for a weekday lunch: chicken salad. I suppose that’s why I have written before about a tarragon chicken salad and a provençal chicken salad. And indeed, the chicken salad parade marches on, now with a kicky curried version sweet with red grapes, snappy with red onion, and oh, it is just divine. I even fooled my mayonnaise-loving husband into thinking this was a terribly unhealthy dinner. Only the truth is that there’s just a bit of mayonnaise to temper the tang of Greek yogurt. This is exactly the sort of quick, super simple recipe I could see myself making every two weeks and keeping in the fridge. In other words, I see this becoming a trusty standby.
Curried Chicken Salad
Serves 4
I would recommend adding the curry powder to taste, as different varieties can really run the gamut in terms of heat. The tablespoon I recommend below might be too much for you; in this case, it provided quite a nice kick.
3 cups leftover roast chicken, chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced (1/2 cup)
6 ounces nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup halved red grapes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
In a large bowl, stir together yogurt, mayonnaise, and curry powder (add a teaspoon at a time and taste to your desired level of heat). Fold in the chicken, onion, grapes and cilantro; season with salt and pepper. Serve over greens dressed lightly with lemon juice and olive oil. Bonus: this gets better after a day of two of sitting in the fridge.
