Oh the lengths I go to keeping mayonnaise out of my food.
This week it’s all about food. For some unexplained reason I have been in the mood to cook and that is a new development over the last few weeks. It’s been hot and humid and our son doesn’t seem to eat at home much lately. He and his friends are loving the new found freedom that driving brings and they are enjoying a few too many “field trips” to the fine fast food establishments in our city…if you ask me….and nobody did. :)
Anyway, I pulled out one of my oldest and favorite cookbooks called Renaissance Cuisine. It’s one of those fund raising cookbooks that I received as a gift back when I was first married. It was printed for a fundraiser to raise money for a hospital in Detroit, Michigan. It’s full of great recipes and it’s fun for me to pull it out every now and then to read it and to find another recipe to try out. On page 83 is the Chicken Salad recipe we served at my baby shower when my daughter was born. My friend Cindy had a beautiful newly built house at the time and generously offered to host a shower for me. It was so nice and I wasn’t the only one pregnant at the shower that day. If I remember right there was me, Tammy, Tina, and Karen all sporting various sizes of belly. This is the recipe for the Chicken Salad that was served. It was delicious and the best part is that there was NO MAYO INVOLVED!! Sour cream was substituted and the sour cream is mixed with Cool Whip and a small amount of orange juice concentrate. It’s really delicious.
I made a small bowl today for me and my husband to have for dinner. I found a great loaf of Ciabatta bread which helped make this a great sandwich. I prefer red grapes in this recipe but my husband likes green better….but if you want it to look “prettier”….use red grapes. :) Enjoy!
Chicken Orange Salad
4 cups white meat chicken, torn into bite size pieces
1 cup mandarin oranges, drained (optional…I only add when I have them on hand.)
1/2 cup green grapes, seedless (I think red is prettier. :))
1 pkg. toasted almonds, silvered
1/4 tsp. Tobasco sauce (I prefer Texas Pete and I added after the sandwiches were made.)
2 cups sliced celery
Dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise…SUBSTITUTE SOUR CREAM HERE!!
1/4 cup orange juice, concentrate
1 cup whipped cream (I used Cool Whip)
Toss all ingredients together lightly with dressing. Serve on a bed of lettuce and have good bread or rolls if you want sandwiches. Serves 6
Now normally, the sight of something this creamy would gag me. But, because I made it and I know exactly what all the ingredients are…delicious! I served it with some chunked up Cantaloupe Melon and we had a great summer dinner. My son took one look at that and wanted no part of it…he and his friends dined at CiCi’s Pizza instead. Fine with me. Leftovers the next day! :)
