Saturday, August 04, 2012

Curry Chicken Salad with Cranberries and Pine Nuts and a GIVEAWAY!!

The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to JKT!

Happy Blogiversary to A Taste of Home Cooking! Hard to believe it's been 6 years since I first entered the world of food blogging. Where does the time go? It feels like only yesterday I was artfully arranging my Cobb salad, snapping a few pictures and trying to come up with a catchy blog title.


I've got a few fun things planned to celebrate the milestone, the first being a GIVEAWAY! It's been awhile since I've done one and what better excuse than an anniversary.

I received a copy of The Busy Mom's Cookbook: 100 Delicious, Quick and Easy Recipes by Antonia Lofaso. I couldn't wait to look through it. I've already got my eye on a few of the recipes and had a very hard time picking something to make. In the end my love of chicken salad, especially curry chicken salad, won out.

I usually make my curry chicken salad with grapes and walnuts, so subbing dried cranberries and pine nuts sounded interesting. I had to add a minced stalk of celery for crunch but otherwise I made the recipe as printed. And it was delicious! I think I still prefer the grapes to dried cranberries solely because of the moisture the grapes add to the chicken salad, but I'd totally use both next time. The pine nuts were a great sub. I love pine nuts and any excuse to use them, although they can be a pricey ingredient.



The Giveaway
One lucky U.S. reader have a chance to win The Busy Mom's Cookbook: 100 Delicious, Quick and Easy Recipes. Here’s how you can enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite home-cooked meal for 1 entry.

2. Like A Taste of Home Cooking on Facebook for 1 entry. Leave a separate comment letting me know you did so.

3. Follow A Taste of Home Cooking on Twitter for 1 entry. Leave a separate comment letting me know you did so.

RULES: Maximum of three (3) entries per person. This giveaway opens Saturday, August 4 at 7:00am EST and will close Thursday, August 9 at 11:59 p.m. EST. The giveaway is only open to U.S. residents. Be sure a valid email address is included with your comment(s). Winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email. If the winner doesn’t respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!

Curry Chicken Salad with Cranberries and Pine Nuts
From Antonia Lofaso

4 tablespoons raw pine nuts
2 cups (1 lb) chopped cooked chicken
1/3 cup mayo
8 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
4 teaspoons chopped red onion
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Salt and Pepper to taste
8 cups mesclun greens (if serving as a salad)
8 slices hearty white bread, toasted (if serving as a sandwich)
1 lime, halved

Heat a saute pan on low. Add the pine nuts to the pan and let them toast, stirring occassionally, for 5 to 6 minutes, until golden brown.

In a large bowl, mix the chicken, mayo, cilantro, red onion, curry powder, cranberries and toasted pine nuts. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Spoon the chicken salad over the mesclun greens (or place on toasted bread with a handful of salad greens). Squeeze the lime over the salad before serving.

Disclosure: This giveaway is provided by Penguin Books, but my opinions are completely my own. I received a free copy of the cookbook.
Pin It!

64 comments:

  1. My favorite home-cooked meal would have to be my mom's beef enchiladas. Nobody makes them like her :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. My favorite home-cooked meal is honey-lime chicken enchiladas at the moment. BUT, it changes a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And I follow you on Twitter!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My mom's chicken parm is my favorite!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My favorite home-cooked meal is my mom's "chicken thing" -- a casserole of chicken, bow-tie pasta, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots in alfredo sauce.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I already follow you on Facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I already follow you on Twitter!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love a good roast beef, but this Summer it's been those Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I follow you on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations!!! One of my favorite home cooked meals is my Guinness beef stew. I can't wait for fall so I can make it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. My favorite home cooked meal is my mom's rice porridge (congee) that we had every Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congrats! My favorite homecooked meal is pasta with homemade marinara-I think it's so comforting and always reminds me of my mom and grandma!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I follow you on Facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  14. My favorite home cooked meal is Parmesan crusted pork chops, it's my husbands favorite too!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. My favorite home cooked meal is Spaghetti Carbonara!

    ReplyDelete
  16. My favorite home cooked meal is my mom's chicken pot pie.

    ReplyDelete
  17. My favorite home-cooked meal is beef tenderloin and rosemary scalloped potatoes!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I already follow you on facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am now following you on Twitter! Congrats on 6 years!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love home cooked chicken noodle soup. So comforting! eclairre(at)ymail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  21. My favorite home cooked meal (from my Russian roots) is my mom's piroshki - fried dough filled with seasoned ground beef, green onions, and chopped hard boiled eggs.

    ReplyDelete
  22. My favorite lately is pesto turkey burgers.

    ReplyDelete
  23. My favorite home cooked meal is chicken and noodles over a nice mound of creamy mashed potatoes. I also love fried chicken with homemade gravy to go along with mashed potatoes. I love some mashed potatoes!!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. My favorite home cooked meal is mac and cheese!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I already follow you on FB.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Following you on Twitter!

    Thanks for the contest, and congrats on your anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  27. One of our favorite meals is salmon w/side of sweet potato (either fries or puree). It's our go-to meal on a weeknight.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I already follow you on Twitter.

    ReplyDelete
  29. My favorite home-cooked meal is spaghetti with bolognese sauce. The slow, long simmer makes the kitchen smell amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Congratulations on 6 years! My favorite homecooked meal is my mom's Chinese Beef Tomato Rice. I can never get enough!

    ReplyDelete
  31. My favorite homecooked meal is chicken marsala (with carmelized onions in addition to the mushrooms), pasta for all the extra marsala sauce and popovers

    ReplyDelete
  32. I follow you on Facebook.

    2u3mommy at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  33. We like to make a Christmas dinner type meal - ham, mashed potatoes, candied yams, lima beans and rolls!

    2u3mommy at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  34. I love making lasagna

    Jpetroroy at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  35. Now following you on Twitter
    Jpetroroy at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  36. Liked on FB
    Jpetroroy at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  37. This might be bizarre... but I love frozen peas sauteed / lightly pan fried in butter and spices.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I follow you on Facebook :) Happy blog anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  39. My favorite home cooked meal is one I don't cook ;) Lately, I love anything that Lucy can help with. We make big salads a lot and she loves to add her ingredients and mix it all up! :)

    ReplyDelete
  40. My favorite home cooked meal is my enchiladas. They're soooo good!

    ReplyDelete
  41. I also just followed you on twitter (blt_2006)

    ReplyDelete
  42. I love my mom's home-cooked lasagna with a cheesy marinara sauce! Yumm

    ReplyDelete
  43. My favorite home-cooked meal is a roasted chicken.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I liked you on FB and added you to my page's favorites (Edesia's Notebook).

    ReplyDelete
  45. I can't get enough of my dad's "baked" ziti.

    ReplyDelete