Chicken Salad with Avocado, Tomato, and Corn

Last month I went on a road trip with some college friends to attend another college friend's wedding lunch. At some point on the 6-hour trip home one of my friends mentioned a sandwich she loves ordering for lunch - chicken salad made with avocado, tomato and corn with a lime mayo. It sounded so good I immediately wrote down the ingredients so I could make it at home.

I've mentioned before that SP isn't a fan of "stuff" in his chicken salad. No matter - it's easy to make two versions of chicken salad. Lucky for me, Baby Girl shares my love of loading up chicken salad with various yummy add-ins. She and I really enjoyed these sandwiches.

Chicken Salad with Avocado, Tomato, and Corn

2 chicken breasts, roasted*
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 avocado, diced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
Fresh lime juice
1/2 cup mayo
Salt and pepper

To serve:
Toasted kaiser rolls or mixed greens
Romaine lettuce leaves

Dice the chicken and add to a large bowl. Add the corn, avocado and grape tomatoes. In another small bowl mix together the lime juice and mayo, then season with salt and pepper. Stir together, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve on toasted kaiser rolls or on top of mixed greens.

*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil then arrange chicken breasts in a single layer in the center. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the aluminum foil over the chicken breasts, and enclose them to form a packet. Bake the chicken (on the baking sheet) 35-45 minutes, or until it is cooked through.

Blue Cheese Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad, especially when it's full of fruit and veggies. My friend Emily recently mentioned making a blue cheese chicken salad for dinner and I immediately asked her for details so I could recreate it at home. She gave me a list of ingredients and I improvised based on my standard chicken salad method.

This was so amazing. I never would have thought to add blue cheese to chicken salad but it totally worked. It was just subtle enough to add that distinctive blue cheese flavor without overwhelming the other ingredients. Baby Girl ate her whole sandwich and said it was delicious. I loved the crunch of the apple and celery and the sweetness from the red grapes mixed with the bite of the red onion and blue cheese. The lemon juice brightened up the whole sandwich. If Baby Girl wasn't allergic to nuts I would have added roasted almonds or walnuts, but I didn't miss them.

Blue Cheese Chicken Salad
Inspired by Emily

2 chicken breasts, roasted*
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
3/4 cup red grapes, quartered (or as much as you want)
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 rib celery, diced
Roasted almonds or walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons sour cream
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Blue cheese crumbles

To serve:
Toasted kaiser rolls or mixed greens
Sliced tomato
Romaine lettuce leaves

Dice the chicken and add to a large bowl. Add the apple, grapes, red onion, celery, and nuts (if using). Mix together, then add mayo and sour cream. Add lemon juice to taste and as much blue cheese as you'd like. Stir together, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve on toasted kaiser rolls with lettuce and tomato or on top of mixed greens.

*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil then arrange chicken breasts in a single layer in the center. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the aluminum foil over the chicken breasts, and enclose them to form a packet. Bake the chicken (on the baking sheet) 35-45 minutes, or until it is cooked through.

Greek Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I love chicken salad. It's so easy to make and the flavor combinations are endless. Last summer I made chicken salad at least once a week but this summer it just wasn't on my radar. Then I saw Josie post these Greek Chicken Salad Sandwiches and I was kicking myself for not making chicken salad more often.

Since SP isn't a fan of most Greek flavors this was all mine to enjoy. And enjoy it I did. Immensely. You can't go wrong in my book when you combine all those ingredients together and stuff them in a pita. I poached two chicken breasts, one for me for this recipe and one for SP (just mixed with salt, pepper and mayo), and when I added all the ingredients to my chopped chicken breast I had enough for 4 sandwiches (a pita cut in half and stuffed full of chicken salad). Keep that in mind when making this.

I absolutely loved the flavors in this chicken salad and can't wait to make it again.

Greek Chicken Salad
From Annie's Eats, as seen on Pink Parsley

1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped cucumber (that has been peeled and seeded)
3/4 cup chopped tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup pitted and chopped Kalamata olives (optional)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 cups tzatziki sauce (see below)
Kosher salt and black pepper
Pita, for serving

Combine all the ingredients through tzatziki and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve with pita bread.

Because so many of the components have a lot of water, if you are eating this as leftovers, just pour off whatever liquid has accumulated at the top of the salad.

Tzatziki
Modified from I Was Born to Cook

1 cup plain greek nonfat yogurt
1 cup chopped cucumber (peel and seeds removed)
1/4 cup chopped dill leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small garlic clove, chopped
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Taste as you go along and adjust ingredients accordingly. Chill before serving.

Strawberry Cashew Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad. Last summer I made it at least once a week for dinner. So when I saw that Cassie had posted a recipe for Strawberry Cashew Chicken Salad I had to try it.


I halved the recipe, using only one chicken breast, since SP only likes mayo, salt and pepper in his chicken salad. I also mixed the cooked bacon into the chicken salad because I was bringing it to work to have for lunch. While it wasn't my absolute favorite chicken salad of all time, it was a great variation and one I'll definitely make again.

Strawberry Cashew Chicken Salad
Very slightly modified from Cassie Craves

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (from 2 chicken breasts)
1/2 cup cashews, chopped
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed.

Add chicken, cashews, strawberries, green onions and bacon. Serve on bread or over lettuce.

Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad, especially since I discovered the beauty of fruit and nuts as add-ins. I love the sweetness from the fruit and the crunch from the nuts. I knew I'd found a new recipe to add to my growing chicken salad collection when I saw this recipe for Chicken Salad at Sing for Your Supper. It has two of my favorite fruits - grapes and pineapple - as well as almonds. I whipped up a batch this weekend to have for lunches during the week, but I was feeling hungry while I spent a marathon day in the kitchen so I made myself a sandwich. Delicious.



Chicken Salad
Modified from Sing for Your Supper

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can pineapple chunks, each piece cut into quarters (crushed would be fine as well)
1 handful green grapes, sliced into halves
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 squirt lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Place the chicken breasts in a large pot and fill with enough water to cover the tops. Boil on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes, until chicken is very tender. Remove the chicken and let cool.

Once the chicken is cool, shred the meat into small pieces. Place in a large bowl. Add in celery, pineapple, grapes and almonds.

In a small bowl, make the sauce. Stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken mixture and stir until combined. Taste for seasoning.