Chicken Salad

Happy Labor Day everyone! I was originally going to post this yesterday, but for some reason my computer didn't want to read my camera's memory card and to be honest, I was too lazy to try again after the first attempt.

If you're ever hosting a party, this is a great recipe to use. It's quick to make (only takes about ten minutes to make, though it does take a few hours to set) and you can make it the day before. Great for vegan barbecues! (I'm not a barbecue person, but they probably would eat chicken salad right? Maybe?)

I don't know if it's because college has started back up, but I've been getting REALLY strong cravings for certain foods lately. And I've been groovin' on sandwiches.

I'll admit, this entry was supposed to be a little bit different. On Friday I tried making a chocolate chip cookie pie, but it was kind of a failure. I mean, an inedible failure. (I know what I did wrong though, so maybe you'll see that up here next month!) But I've wanted to post more recipes here lately. I don't want to be lazy just because of school, you know?

And then bam. A 3 a.m. craving for chicken salad came upon me, so that was a bit helpful.

I would've submitted this for VeganMoFo, but naturally I missed the deadline (which I'll probably always miss), so maybe consider this the unofficial entry. I'll see if I can whip up other stuff this month, and worst case I'll just review some vegan store-bought foods.

So, here we go.

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegan mayo
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tsps lemon juice
• 1/2 Tbsp dried chives
• 1/2 Tbsp dried minced onions
• optional: 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 package Gardein teriyaki chick'n strips, cut into chunks (shredding would work too)
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• optional: vegetable broth (see the second instruction)

instructions:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the mayo, sour cream, spicy brown mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, lemon juice, chives, minced onions, and optional dill.
2. Cook the package of Gardein chick'n. If it tickles your fancy, add a little bit of veggie broth to the pan when you cook it. I would've tried that, but unfortunately I was out!
3. Once your chick'n is cooked, either cut it up into chunks or shred it. Whichever floats your boat! I like biting into chunks of it, so that's what I did. 
4. Dice the celery.
5. Add the chick'n and celery to the bowl with the dressing and mix. 
6. Put the bowl in the fridge and let it chill for about two hours before eating.

You can also add grapes to yours if you want. I didn't have any, but I'm not totally in love with grapes in chicken salad anyway so! Adding some kind of nut would work too (I personally favour almonds in this.)

I like my chicken chunks big and my celery chunks small! You can always shred your chicken with two forks to make it smaller, or make your celery chunks bigger if you want.

Mmmmmm, dressing. I love dressing and dips and such. You could probably use this as a dip for a veggie platter too. (Maybe make it a little thicker with some more vegan sour cream?)

Before it's stirred.

And after! Chicken salad is never really the most "attractive" food, but it's the taste that counts!

I really love eating it on potato bread. Mmmmm, potato bread.

This makes enough for about four-five sandwiches, depending on how generous (or cheap) you are when you spoon it onto the bread.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, feel free to leave me a comment here or send me an email! I'm really looking for some food suggestions at the moment, so don't be shy!

xo, Kate