Chicken Salad

I grew up in the 80’s, a time when children were basically raised by wolves (themselves). We had a door key hanging from a piece of yarn that we placed around our necks Monday through Friday before leaving for school. Forget the sacred key and you were forced to crawl into your home through a lower floor window that was never locked. I’m sure that 50 percent of my She-Ra like upper body strength came from my weekly workout routine of pulling myself into my house because the key was left at home.

We played outside all day long, but as dusk fell and the insects started their nightly songs, we all raced home on our bikes because we knew that we had to have a big toe on the driveway before the street lights came on. Never mind the fact that we had only shown our face once in the last 8 to 10 hours and had been offered a chance to travel with the local gypsy family to their next destination. While today this would probably be considered a form of abuse (or labeled free range parenting), we loved every minute of growing up and would pay big bucks to ride in a Dolorean if we could go back to childhood for a day.

I grew up eating lots and lots and lots of sandwiches because a sandwich is a fast and easy lunch to make when you’re a kid that has exactly 10 minutes to scarf down enough nourishment to last until dinner before racing out the door to meet friends at the stop sign. They’re also perfect for parents who want to quickly feed their crew and immediately send them right back outside.

I wish that my mom would have had this recipe in the 80’s, but it’s probably best that she didn’t because I definitely would have eaten two chicken salad sandwiches anytime that it was served instead of just one and missed 10 extra minutes of childhood adventures.

I chop my chicken and celery up by hand, but if you prefer a faster method, toss the chicken and celery into your food processor, pulse it for a bit until they’re chopped, and then add the mayo, honey mustard, and relish and just pulse to combine. The more you mix it in your food processor the smoother and more spreadable it will become.

I hope that you’ll try this recipe today and leave a comment below. Also, follow @lifeabovethecafe on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest by using the social media icons found on this page.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of diced chicken breast
• 3/4 cup of diced celery
• 3-4 Tbsp. of sweet pickle relish
• 2-3 Tbsp. of finely chopped dill pickle or dill pickle relish
• 1/2-1 cup of mayonnaise (personal preference)
• 2 Tbsp. of Honey Mustard Dressing
• 3/4 tsp. of dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of black pepper
• Optional – 1/3 cup of dried cranberry/candied pecan mixture

Directions:

In a large bowl mix the chicken, celery, pickles, mayonnaise, honey mustard dressing, parsley flakes, salt, and pepper together.  I only use 1/2 cup of mayonnaise because my husband doesn’t love it, but if you prefer more mayonnaise please add 1 cup.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.

A great addition to this is a mixture of cranberries and pecans. Walmart sells a bag of cranberries mixed with candied pecans. I add 1/3 of a cup of the mixture to this chicken salad recipe and serve it on croissants.

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