~A Healthy Chicken Salad~

A few years ago while working in the Camp Kivu kitchen, my friend (Cassie Jo Murphy) made the most wonderful chicken salad.  I have always made a curry chicken salad but this Mango Curry Chicken Salad adds a subtle mangoey flair of flavor and is absolutely d-e-l-i-s-h. 
The other half of this salad's recipe comes from a cute little sandwich/salad shop in Telluride (my favorite mountain town to visit!) called Merle's Brown Bag.  If you're ever in Telluride, I highly advise visiting this tasty hole-in-the-wall lunch stop-You will be quite impressed:-) Anyways, they have a curry chicken salad that is to die for, and I've since tried to re-create it after each visit. 
So, after combining Cassie Jo's recipe and Merle's plus a few alterations with healthier ingredients, here is what I came up with.  I will admit the ingredient amounts are all estimates;  The greatest part about chicken salad is you can't really mess it up.  Add more or less of any of these ingredients to your taste and feel free to throw in additions such as raisins, yellow raisins, dried cherries, diced red bell peppers, chopped carrots, chunked mango, etc. 
I placed my chicken salad on a bed of baby greens w/ avocado slices, goat cheese, and diced tomato to top it off.  You can also put the mixture on a sandwich, pita or wrap.
Enjoy!

Mango Curry Chicken Salad

INGREDIENTS:

2 Large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (can use rotisserie or grilled)

1 spear celery, chopped in small pieces

1 small fuji apple, diced in small pieces

1/8 cup fresh green onions, chopped

½ cup Craisins

1 cup plain soy yogurt (can use any type of plain yogurt)

4 oz Mango Chutney Spread (I used Crofter's Premium Organic Mango Spread)

1 T Lemon juice

2-3 tsp curry powder

¼-1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

¼ cup cashews, walnuts or almonds, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, mix yogurt, chutney, curry, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, place chicken, celery, apple, craisins, and nuts.  Mix well. 

Slowly add yogurt mixture to the medium bowl of chicken mixture, stirring until all is coated lightly with the sauce.  Sprinkle green onions on top for garnish.

For a spicy "dressing sauce" mix 2 T plain yogurt with 1/2 tsp Srircha chili sauce.  Drizzle on top.
*This recipe is gluten free and dairy free

(Yep, that's Merle's!)