A Good Place to Start

Friends and family have been encouraging me to write down my recipes for a long time, so I guess it's time to start. This project may prove easier said than done since my cooking starts with opening the frig and ends with improvising and tasting until it seems right. I'm one of those cooks who thinks a written recipe is only a good place to start (except of course when it comes to baking). Drop, glop, drizzle, chop and stir - that's way more my style!

Deb's Chicken Salad

I've made this salad countless times and with endless variation. It's our standard auction picnic food and my favorite summer lunch on the porch.

Ingredients
1/2 to 2/3 cup of mayo (the real stuff)
1 tbs of stone-ground mustard (the kind with horseradish if you have it)
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbs honey
4 green onions chopped (both white and green parts)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup toasted walnut halves (chopped)
1/2 cup dried cherries
Pinch of chipotle powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 dribble of Wegman's lemon oil
8-12 boneless chicken thighs or the meat off of one store-bought rotisserie chicken (any flavor)

Place walnut halves in a single layer on the toaster-oven sheet – fill up the entire sheet and toast on medium darkness until you just barely smell them. Let cool and then chop. Get a big bowl and glop two or three big spoonfuls of mayo into it. Add one small glob of mustard, one 2-3 second long drip of honey, the juice of what ever citrus you have in the frig and add a pinch or a few drops of something which provides a little heat. Whisk it all together until it's smooth. Add chopped celery, green onions, walnuts and dried cherries to this secret sauce! If I want to get really fancy I'll soak the dried fruit in a little orange or lemon juice. Dice chicken the size you like it – mix it all in, call your sweetie for lunch, get a couple of forks and move to the porch. Yum.

Add-ins or substitutions:

Nuts - almonds, cashews, pecans or macadamias

Fresh herbs from the garden – cilantro, parsely, thyme, mint or chives

Dried fruit - Craisins, raisins, apricots or apples

Fresh fruit - tangerine, orange or apple. Zest of any citrus fruit works well too.

Juice - tangerine, orange, lemon, lime

Slightly exotic flavors – garam masala, curry powder, smoked paprika

Heat - Tobasco, red pepper flakes, Asian chili paste

Healthy things - blanched, cold, leftover veggies (especially asparagus, green beans or sweet peas), sliced fennel, chopped sweet red pepper

Is it time for lunch yet?