Curry Chicken Salad

Posted on June 29, 2023June 6, 2023 by Amanda Leave a comment

I love getting the roast chickens at Costco for an quick and easy batch of pho, but sometimes it ends up being too much chicken and I don’t know what to do with the rest of it. The chicken itself can be a little bit bland and dry depending on the day, so I like to use it in other dishes when I can. After rifling through some refrigerator scraps, I found enough to make a *fancier* chicken salad – curry chicken salad!

This curry chicken salad is nicely flavored from the curry powder pre-mix of spices, has crunch from the celery, a little zip from the raw onions, and some sweetness from the apples. It’s perfect between two slices of toasted bread, inside a pita pocket, or on top of some crunchy greens!

Ingredients:

Sour cream & mayo: I find the sour cream to be a little bit lighter since it has a little bit of tanginess to it already. The mayo addition just makes it a little more creamy. Feel free to use all mayo if you like.

Curry powder – ezpz, skip if you don’t want it

Curry Chicken Salad

Print Recipe

Creamy, spiced, and crunchy chicken salad for when you have leftover chicken.

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Keyword chicken, curry, salad

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 celery rib
1/2 medium apple
1/4 cup diced onion
salt & pepper

Instructions

Prep all your ingredients by dicing the cooked chicken into small bite sized pieces. Dice your celery, apple, and onion as well.
In a bowl, mix together chicken, celery, apple, onion, sour cream, and mayo. Sprinkle in curry powder and garlic powder to ensure no big "clumps" of spices.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Enjoy!

More salad-y type things? Try some Pasta Salad or The Work From Home Salad.

Egg Salad

Posted on June 15, 2023June 1, 2023 by Amanda Leave a comment

I think it’s summer now in the PNW so that means more time outside. Egg salad is a perfect prep item for on the go sandwiches for that next hike adventure or for a quick dinner when it’s too hot to turn on the stove or the oven. A couple scoops is also perfect on top of a bed of greens or wrapped in some lettuce for a light lunch or quick snack. Recently I’ve been liking this in my Scallion & Chili Crunch Focaccia.

Ingredients

Hard-boiled eggs: I have a certain way that I like to prepare my eggs to get a perfect hard-boil without that green ring on the yolk that gives them that chalky texture. If you overcook your eggs for this, honestly you would never be able to tell since they get mashed into the dressing for the eggs anyway.

Anchovy: Shhhhhh secret ingredient! You’d never guess it was in there and it just gives the egg salad a more salty and savory flavor!

Onions: I prefer sweet onions, but if you had to pick a different onion, I would pick red onions.

Celery: Don’t skimp out on these! They give your egg salad more texture for endless eating.

Egg Salad

Print Recipe

Perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs go into this egg salad with a secret ingredient!

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Keyword egg salad, eggs, sandwich

Ingredients

4 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
2 filets anchovies
1/4 cup sweet onion diced
1/4 cup celery diced
pepper
salt

Instructions

To hard-boil the eggs, start with cold water in a cold pot. Put your eggs in the water and turn on the stove.
When the water comes to a rapid boil, turn off the heat and allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for an additional 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the eggs from the hot water and transfer to a cold water bath to stop cooking.
Peel eggs, removing egg yolks and placing in a separate bowl. Don't worry about breaking the egg whites!
In the bowl with the egg yolks, add mayonnaise, mustard, and anchovy filets.
Mash egg yolks and filets into the mayo and mustard.
Dice egg whites and add to the mayo mix along with the celery and onion.
Taste and season with pepper and any other salt if necessary.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Assemble your sandwich or salad and enjoy!

Other eggs: Soy Marinated Soft Eggs or Cheesy Egg Strata

Pasta Salad

Posted on January 26, 2023January 26, 2023 by Amanda Leave a comment

For some reason, everyone has really been loving a lunchtime work meeting, so I’ve been trying to make more “prepped” lunches for days where I really can’t step away for long to take a break (is this an unhealthy work environment?) I also recently got a walking pad to slide under my desk for when I’m feeling restless, and meals on the go (on the walking pad) should be relatively spill resistant and easy to transport from plate to mouth. In comes, the pasta salad! No reheating required. I can easily spoon this from the master pasta salad container into another bowl, bring it back to my desk/walking pad, and shovel some into my mouth in between meetings.

Ingredients

Pasta – I like using some macaroni or rotini for pasta salad. Their size makes consumption simple since they are easily spooned or forked up. Minimal spills!

Vegetables – I like crunchy vegetables like bell peppers and onions. This could also be really lovely with diced pickles or zingy capers. The key is the consistency in the chop so nothing seems too large in a bite.

Sauce – Our dressing/sauce here is a mayo-sour cream blend that is brightened up using some vinegar. You can use all sour cream or all mayo, but the additional vinegar will be to taste.

Salami – feel free to leave this out to make it meatless 🙂

Pasta Salad

Print Recipe

Pasta salad, perfect to prep for a busy week or make in bulk for a fun gathering.

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Keyword pasta, salad

Ingredients

1 pound pasta macaroni preferred
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
2 bell peppers diced
1/4 cup diced red or sweet onion
1 stalk green onion sliced
1/4 cup salami diced

Instructions

Boil pasta accordingly to package.
In a large container, mix together diced onion, green onion, salami, mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar.
When pasta is done, drain and rinse.
When pasta is relatively cool to the touch, add to the sauce and mix.
Mix in bell peppers. Taste and adjust seasonings for salt & pepper.
Allow to refrigerate at least 2 hours and then serve!

Salad party? Try The Work From Home Salad

Have some soup with it – Tomato Basil Soup or Pumpkin Soup

The Work From Home Salad

Posted on January 19, 2023January 19, 2023 by Amanda Leave a comment

After working from home for about 6 months now, I’ve needed to come up with quick, easy lunches for days that I’m either feeling really lazy to make lunch; don’t have leftovers to eat; or don’t have time to make something. Six months later… I have a go-to WFH lunch salad. The salad really is made by the dressing, which comes together really quickly and really only requires one spoon to make (less dishes!). The dressing always stays the same, while the contents of the salad will always change based on what’s currently available in my fridge.

Ingredients

Tahini – this is the base that makes a creamy dressing!

Sesame oil – this makes the dressing so fragrant and complements the tahini so well

Salad – i like a crunchy romaine, but feel free to use whatever base green you prefer like iceberg, red/green leaf lettuce, butter, kale, etc. other fun additions would be cucumber, bell peppers, roasted vegetables and nuts.

Protein – i opted for a veggie protein substitute, but this salad would be great with any protein of choice like air-fried tofu, chicken, shrimp, or steak.

Work From Home Salad

Print Recipe

This creamy sesame dressing is fast and easy, the perfect accompaniment to your weekday lunch greens.

Course Salad

Keyword dressing, salad, sesame, tahini

Ingredients

Dressing

1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp tahini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt

Salad

1/2 head romaine lettuce
1/4 cup onion
1/2 avocado
1/2 cup protein of choice

Instructions

In a large container with a lid, mix together all of the salad dressing ingredients. Taste and add additional salt if necessary.
Chop onion to desired size and add to dressing. Mix into the dressing to "marinate" the onion in the dressing.
Chop romaine lettuce into bite sized chunks and add to container.
Chop avocado and add to container.
Add protein of choice.
Attach lid to container and shake to toss the salad and disperse the dressing!

Try this salad alongside a pizza using Pizza Dough or with Shrimp & Snap Pea Stir Fry.