Super Fresh and Healthy Chicken Salad

Growing up I absolutely adored my mom’s chicken salad.  Later, I realized that it was simply mayo, canned chicken, and dill relish.  Canned meat is popular, however, it is not for me.  I absolutely cannot bring myself to consume or feed my family canned meat.  Yuck.  End of story.  Love you Mom, lol.  I was her picky child, can you tell?

This rejection of my childhood chicken salad led me down a long road of experimenting with different recipes for the perfect version.  Well, my perfect version at least.

I start with fresh shredded chicken.  This recipe uses a pack of Perdue Harvestland perfect portions.  I always have these on hand.  They are so easy to cook up in a pinch!  If time is an obstacle (when is it not) a store bought rotisserie chicken works just as well.  Also, this is a great way to utilize leftovers from a roasted chicken made earlier in the week.

Now that we have our chicken squared away lets talk mayo.  Everyone knows that a southern woman has a mayo that is “her” mayo.  I am no exception.  I am partial to Duke’s with olive oil.  Use whatever brand is your favorite.
I have found that a combination of carrots, tomatoes, green onions, and celery come together to make the best chicken salad.  Oh, and don’t forget salt and pepper of course.  The amounts of each can be altered to suite your needs.  If you are utilizing leftover chicken or only making a small batch of chicken salad you may not need as much as this recipe calls for.

When I worked in North Raleigh a Fresh Market was right around the corner.  It was  one of my favorite lunch places.  They had a absolutely delicious chicken salad stuffed heirloom tomato that was a weekly favorite of mine.  I have taken this concept and created low carb versions of this.  Not that I don’t love this salad on a croissant or fresh ciabatta roll.  It is almost bathing suit season though and like most women I know I’m trying to cut back on the carbs to shed the holiday pounds.  Full disclosure, I ate the ciabatta roll with another meal anyways.  LOL.  Oh well!  Sweets I can turn down, bread is my downfall.  Especially fresh baked bread!

In addition to the stuffed heirloom tomato I also filled a cucumber boat with chicken salad.  I love the crunch and range of textures this provides.  So fresh tasting!

What are your favorite low carb lunches?