Recipe: Charlie's Famous Chicken Salad

Last week when I went shopping, I did something completely out of character for me: I bought meat.  I know, I know.  You thought I was vegetarian.  Well, that is false and you should cease listening to the vicious rumormongers who tell such lies.  Anyway.  I was sick of not being able to cook meat, so I bought a package of chicken breasts and resolved to use them.

I cooked them Sunday night by sauteeing them in olive oil after using a "brining" technique that several websites recommended, which basically entailed covering them with water mixed with a ridiculous amount of salt and sugar (probably not the healthiest thing?) and letting them soak it up in the fridge for an hour.  They tasted delicious, but I should probably go for something healthier (aka not involving salt, sugar, and oil...?) next time.

So basically I was super proud of myself for actually cooking meat.  Unfortunately, the next morning when I went to make it into chicken salad, I was distressed to discover that although I probably wasn't going to die from eating it, I really should have cooked the chicken about half a minute longer.  There was still just the teeniest, tiniest bit of pinkishness in the middle.  Whoops.  Having had a friend go through food poisoning the week before, I wasn't monstrously excited about following suit, but it tasted fine, I had tested some the night before and wasn't dead yet, and I wasn't about to waste all my effort.  So I nervously made the salad.

It was good!  It made more than I wanted it to, because now I've been eating it for days and am going to have to throw out the last little unused bit.  But it did last a commendably long time.  I also didn't get food poisoning, which is key.  I used cucumber instead of celery and omitted the onion, and I really liked it.  (Also I accidentally bought Extra-Tenderizing Worcestershire sauce...?  Who knew that existed?  But it seemed fine.)  Next time I'll use red grapes instead of green for better flavor.  But overall I recommend it.  Super fast, pretty delicious.  I give it four stars.

Charlie's Famous Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 10 mins

• 2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup seedless grapes, halved
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or 1 cup pecans (optional)
• 1 small minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Miracle Whip

1. Combine all ingredients; chill.
2. Serve with just about anything- crackers, chips, rolls, bread or bagel. 

How easy is that?

(PS- No, I don't know who Charlie is.  But he sounds cool.)

<3

[Recipe credit: Food.com, http://www.food.com/recipe/charlies-famous-chicken-salad-with-grapes-53508]