HOW TO: make the best damn chicken salad

I only discovered that I liked chicken salad over the holidays while having some with the in-laws. But it's not something that's good to buy in grocery stores. It's made with full-calorie mayo, who knows what preservatives, and it's not that fresh or healthy.

I'd made a few batches just using light mayo and pickle relish which canned chunks of chicken. It tasted good enough, but the canned chicken has a really bad smell. And it wasn't super great.

And then I saw Subway's commercial for their new Orchard Chicken Salad sandwich.


Last Sunday I finally tried it. It was good. Like really good. But then I started to realize things.

1. I could make that myself, and it would be fresher.
2. I could grill my own chicken breasts, instead of canned chicken.
3. Using my light Miracle Whip it would be healthier.
4. I could build on their recipe, making it better.

So I did.

I started by grilling two chicken breasts, hitting them with my chicken rub as soon as they come off the grill, when they're still hot and juicy. I chilled those and diced them up. Then I added a diced Granny Smith apple, some dried cranberries, golden raisins, and some crushed candied pecans. Then I added my Miracle Whip and pickle relish. And let the flavors mingle in the fridge.

To serve, I toasted some whole wheat Sara Lee bread, and placed two slices of romaine, my favorite lettuce by far. How's how it turned out:

(1/25 - f7.1 - ISO2000)

Photography note: Since I was indoors and went down to a 7.1 aperture, I needed a slow shutter and high ISO. The 7.1 aperture allowed me to get my the entire chicken salad in focus, and still have the blurry background effect on the back piece of toast. I'm pretty happy with this picture.