Curry Chicken Salad

When I was a kid, my mom would often make curry chicken salad. It was the only kind of chicken salad we had at home, and really, it’s all we needed, because we all loved it.

Despite hating celery and olives as a kid, I loved this chicken salad. I still do. It’s a classic.
My husband loves it as well. Heck, he’s loved it since he first had it, before we were dating! How’s that for a good chicken salad, eh?

It goes well on sandwiches, crackers, in wraps, on lettuce, on baked potatoes, and by itself.

I really can’t think of anything else to say about it. It’s self-explanatory in its simple greatness.

Easy. Delicious. What more can you ask for?

Oh, and it’s even better the next day!

Thanks, Mom, for this great recipe!

Curry Chicken Salad

(serves 6 – 8)

• 2 (10 oz.) cans cooked chicken
• 2 (2.25 oz.) cans sliced black olives
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1/2 c. diced celery (about 1 1/2 stalks)
• 1 c. sliced almonds (toasted)
• 1 apple
• 1 c. mayonnaise
• 3 tsp. curry powder
• salt

1. Add the chicken, olives, celery, and toasted almonds to a large bowl. Chop up the water chestnuts and add those as well.
2. Peel, core, and chop up the apple into small chunks, and add them to the bowl. Mix everything well.
3. Add the mayonnaise and curry powder, and mix until everything is well coated. Add salt to taste.

A More Interesting Fruit Salad

I completely forgot that last Wednesday marked the 1 year anniversary of this blog. Of course the name and address has changed, but my food blog baby is now one year old… and I forgot. Opps.

I like to think that I was so busy trying new recipes and creations for your reading pleasure, but honestly, I just forgot.

So happy 1 year birthday to A Cup of Flour! (yaaaay)

In other news, this time change is killing me.

In my defense, this is the first time I’ve gone on daylight savings time in 4 years (did I write about this yesterday? I forget…).

This morning was particularly painful, as Hisa and I got up to go lap swimming. It was still fully night by the time we arrived at the pool, and the sun slowly started coming up as we swam.

I admit, I’m quite proud of myself for going and swimming as much as I usually do despite the time change (and the fact that I slept horribly last night). I just hope I can adjust to the new time better before the next time we go lap swimming.

I’ve never been a big fruit salad person.

But then, most of my fruit salad experiences have been limited to those cans of mixed fruit cocktail.

This stuff.

I have to say, I’m not a fan of it.

Fruit salad can be a delicious accompaniment to a meal or a healthy dessert, however. It’s also great for breakfast by itself or with plain yogurt and granola added to it!

Besides a wide variety of fresh fruits, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and shredded coconut all make great additions to fruit salad. For dessert, try adding a dollop of freshly whipped cream, creme fraiche, clotted cream, or yogurt cheese (like I did above).

Substitute whatever fruits, nuts, seeds, extras you want for this. It’s pretty hard to screw it up, so feel free to experiment a little.

Fruit Salad

(serves 7 – 9)

• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 can chunk pineapple (in 100% juice) or fresh pineapple
• 1 can mandarin oranges (in 100% juice), drained
• 2 apples, cut into chunks
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1/2 c. almond slivers
• 1/2 c. raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Add the banana, mandarin oranges, apple, and raisins to a large bowl.
2. Drain the pineapple, reserving about 1/2 c. of the juice. Add the pineapple to the bowl.
3. Toast the almond slivers, pumpkin seeds, and coconut. Let cool, and add to the bowl along with the raisins.
4. Add the reserved pineapple juice (optional), and mix everything well.
5. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.
6. Serve by itself or with whipped cream, yogurt, yogurt cheese, clotted cream, creme fraiche, etc.

Salad Bar Dinner

I’m happy to report that I’m feeling much less tired today. Hisa and I even went swimming this morning, although it was sooo cold out. We’ve been having a pretty mild winter this year so far, so it was a bit of a shock to have freezing cold temperatures when we went to the pool, and even when we came back (I thought my wet hair was going to freeze).

I’ve discovered, however, that it’s quite refreshing to go swimming early in the morning! I always thought I couldn’t never handle any form of exercise early in the morning before breakfast, but I’m getting quite used to it now. Hisa and I have been going to swim in the mornings about twice a week the past couple weeks, and I have to say, I’m quite proud of myself for it! I’ve exercise regularly in the late morning, afternoon, and evening before (all times of day have their pros and cons), but this is the first time I’ve been able to regularly exercise at the crack of dawn. As someone who thinks waking up before dawn is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, I have to say that if I can do it, I really think anyone can. 🙂

The other night for dinner, I decided to do something different, and laid out our own little salad bar. I thought of all the toppings I thought my family would like, prepared two different salad dressings, and laid everything out. It was a simple dinner, but healthy and quite fun really.
You could also serve bread sticks or focaccia bread with this. Or maybe some cookies for dessert. Mmmm, cookies…

I made a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing and my honey mustard dressing made with greek yogurt, but use whatever dressings you like.

Here’s the toppings I used for our salad bar to give you some ideas:

• organic spring lettuce mix
• baby spinach
• stir-fried chicken pieces (sliced grilled, fried, and baked chicken are great too)
• broccoli florets
• avocado
• garbanzo beans
• tomatoes
• cubed tofu
• matchstick carrots
• olives
• feta cheese
• shredded mozzarella cheese
• boiled eggs
• walnuts
• dried cranberries
• mushrooms
• blanched snow peas

Here are some more toppings ideas:

• sliced apple/pear
• Mandarin orange pieces
• strawberries
• crumbled goat/Gorgonzola cheese
• slivered almonds
• cooked quinoa
• cooked salmon/tuna
• sliced onion
• bell peppers
• cucumber

Even though it’s super simple to simply set things out, when you have a wide variety of toppings, it somehow seems a little fancy. Especially if you have all the toppings in matching bowls. I think this would be a fun lunch or light dinner for when you have guests over.

Mmmm, I love me some salad!

Today’s Lunch

Since today is Hisa’s last day of work (already?! I can’t believe it came this quickly!), this will also be his last packed lunch for awhile. We’re moving a week from today, so until then we’ll be finishing packing, cleaning our apartment, getting rid of stuff, closing bank accounts, etc.

Once we get settled down in the U.S., and Hisa starts working again, hopefully I’ll be able to start making him packed lunches again.

All the lunches I’ve made are on the Packed Lunches page, so feel free to check those out if you need some inspiration or ideas.

Happy lunch packing!

Today’s lunch: Chili, cornbread, chickpea and veggie salad, and a mandarin orange

Today’s Lunch

Today’s Lunch: Teriyaki tofu hamburger on homemade hamburger buns, chickpea and veggie salad, and 2 mandarin oranges