Curry Chicken Salad

Ingredients: Chicken thighs, shallots, garlic, brown rice, celery, apple, green onion, carrot, peanuts, butternut squash, shredded cabbage, mayonnaise, buttermilk, curry, cumin, ginger, garlic powder, honey, and salt.

Start by cooking four boneless skinless chicken thighs with two minced shallots and six minced cloves of garlic in a heavy bottom skillet. Chicken thighs take longer to cook than white meat, which is good because it gives the shallots and garlic time to caramelize into a savory paste. Remove the chicken and reserve the yummy shallots and garlic to use with the dressing later.

In a large bowl stir together half a cup of cooked brown rice (I like basmati because it is light and flaky), two chopped celery stalks, one chopped apple, three chopped green onions, one shredded carrot, one cup of cubed roasted butternut squash, one cup of shredded white or red cabbage, a quarter cup of unsalted roasted peanuts, and the cooled chicken thighs cut into small pieces.

For the sauce, combine half a cup of mayonnaise, one tablespoon of buttermilk, 2½ teaspoons of Indian curry powder, half a teaspoon of garlic powder, half a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon of ground ginger, one teaspoon of salt, fresh ground peppercorns, a quarter cup of honey, and the reserved caramelized shallots and garlic.

Pour the sauce over the salad and mix it in.

This flavorful salad is great served cold all by itself, over a bed of fresh greens, or warm with pita, tortillas or naan.

Experiment: Try adding golden raisins and walnuts. Make it vegan by stir frying firm tofu instead of chicken and using vegan mayonnaise and soy milk in the sauce. Spice up the salad with cayenne, red pepper flakes, chili sauce, or another favorite hot sauce.

Tags: chicken, curry, middle-eastern, salad