Quick Curry Chicken Salad with Walnuts

You know what's a really easy and quick thing to make from left over Rotisserie Chicken from Costco?  Chicken Salad!  I've made this using fresh or frozen chicken breast that I poached and blended up in a food processor or blender, but using rotisserie chicken is super quick and tastes better than using poached or boiled chicken.  I'm all about immediate gratification so rotisserie chicken it is!  

Imagine getting to stuff this in your face in as little time as 5 minutes!

You'll need:

celery

onion

chicken (any cooked chicken will do)

mayonnaise 

sour cream (optional)

walnuts or sliced almonds

grapes or dried cranberries (optional)

curry powder

black pepper

salt to taste

I start with 5 stalks of celery.  I really like the crunch that celery adds, so I tend to use a lot.  You can use less or even more if you wanted!  I chop my celery into medium sized pieces.  Not too big, but not super small either.  It's totally up to you,

Then I finely mince a quarter of a medium onion.  FINE mince is important here because biting into a huge chunk of raw onion would be not so great in this dish.

I like to use either walnuts or sliced raw almonds in my chicken salad.  Either is great.  I happened to have walnuts so I used them.   You can omit these completely if you don't like nuts or have a nut allergy.  I love them in this dish because, well....they add a nice, um, nutty flavor.  Well, they are NUTS, right?!  I used about a cup or so.

Just a quick run through with my knife.  I like them medium chopped.  Up to you.

I used about 3 cups of leftover rotisserie chicken that I bought from Costco.  I like Costco chicken.  A lot. It's hormone and steroid free, its cheap and delicious.  I can get a ton of meals out of one Costco Chicken. True story.  Check out these other recipes that involve Costco Chicken:  Quick Chicken Curry, Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken and Rice Soup and my all time favorite way to use the leftover bones to make rich and delicious chicken stock.

If you don't have leftover rotisserie chicken, you can also use some chicken breasts.  Just boil them in water with a little bit of salt and pepper and when they are cooked, you can use two forks to shred them.  Then you can save the stock and freeze for later use! Win win.

You can hand shred your chicken or even pulse it through a food processor or blender if you like it more finely chopped.  Me?  I just use my handy knife to give it a quick chop.  I like the chicken fine and bite sized. It depends on the mood I'm in or what I'll be using the chicken salad for.

I throw all my chopped celery, onion and walnuts into a large mixing bowl so they can be friends.

Then I add my chicken.

I like to add 1-2 heaping spoonfuls of real mayonnaise and I think that works out to about 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  I'm too lazy to measure it out in a measuring cup and I hate washing dishes so a big spoon is what I always use.  I get there's some people who like Miracle Whip.  Me?  Not so much.  But I guess you could use the whip stuff...but mayo is my friend and I will always turn to mayo first before ever using Miracle Whip.  

Add LESS first.  If you like your chicken salad super mayo-y and creamy, you can always add more,  But if you over mayo, then you won't be happy and it's harder to fix.

Then I grab my curry powder.  This is just a regular curry powder I got at Ralph's.  The brand is Delish.  No.  That's the name.  Well, yes...it does taste delish, but it's also CALLED Delish.  I find the Delish brand to be affordable and reasonable spices and seasonings.  You don't always have to shell out tons of money for a tiny name brand container.

Smell and taste your curry powder before adding into your recipe,  Not all curry powders are created equal.  If I had used a different brand from any Asian market, I would use waaaay less.  Make sure you know how strong your curry powder is or isn't before adding.  The Delish brand is a nice aromatic, medium spice and strength so I used a tablespoon.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Add as much black pepper as you'd like.

Mix it all up!  I added a little seasoning salt after tasting.  You may or may not need to depending on the kind of curry powder you use.

I also like to add just a blop of sour cream, if I have any on hand.  You can use unflavored Greek yogurt too.  You can skip this step if you wanted.  I just felt that I wanted my chicken salad to be a little wetter but didn't want to add any more mayo.

(A friend of mine pointed out that "splash" and "blop" are frustrating to those less comfortable in the kitchen, so it was about half a tablespoon).

I didn't have any on hand this time, but I love, love LOVE to add red, seedless grapes into this chicken salad.  Or eat with the grapes on the side.  I've even used dried cranberries.  Not everyone likes fruit in their chicken salad.  Believe me, growing up I HATED it.  Korean folks like to add apples and grapes in potato salad and it made me crazy!  So I used to NEVER add it into my chicken salad,  but one day I had a chicken salad sandwich on Venice Beach that had red, seedless grapes in it and it absolutely blew my mind.  So now I'm a believer.  If you're going to try it with grapes mixed in, I'd suggest cutting the grapes in half before mixing in to your chicken salad.

Spoon a huge scoopful on salad, smear on bread and serve open faced or in tea sandwiches, spoon into tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, spoon into boiled eggs cut in half with yolks removed, spoon into lettuce cups for no carb option, eat on crackers with a dash of hot sauce...the list goes on and on.

 I don't know what it is about chicken salad, but it just screams summer to me.  It's what I'd like to eat at the beach or on a picnic.  Or just eat while being outside.  

Enjoy!

EASY Roasted Baby Potato Salad with Bacon and Grilled Onion

HI!  Remember me?  I'm the girl who LOVES all things potatoes.  I think the majority of my recipes on this blog have potatoes involved.  They inspire me and I've yet to run out of potato themed recipes.  Here's one I made up for potato salad that can be served warm or cold.  It doesn't involve mayo, but it can if you want to.  I like that version of potato salad too, but I don't think mayo based potato salad goes with everything. This version goes great as a side to hamburgers and hot dogs but also goes great with a nice prime rib or steak.  This recipe also involves bacon...hello, this is me we're talking about.  But you can leave it out if you want a veggie version.

It all starts with this bag of Peewee Potatoes I found at the store.  

See how tiny they are?  Sooooo cute. We're gonna roast them in the oven.

I washed them and then patted them dry with a paper towel.  

You don't have to worry about getting them completely dry. 

Then I poured them into a baking pan and drizzled with olive oil.

Season with black pepper.

I used a bit of kosher salt.

Toss it all around so that they all get a nice coating of the oil, salt and pepper.

Pop it in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.  You could boil them but they won't have that nice roasted flavor.  I've also baked potatoes in a crock pot before and that would work just fine here too.  If you're using a crock pot, follow all the same steps but instead of the baking pan, pour them into a crock pot and turn on low for 4 hours (don't forget to coat with oil and season with salt and pepper).

While your Peewees are roasting, I fry up some bacon.  You could skip the bacon...but I'm not going to.  I like to fry the bacon until it's crispy.  I like crispy bacon.  A lot.  

In the same pan that I used for frying the bacon, I pour out the bacon fat.  I leave about a tablespoon or so and saute one small chopped onion.  Yes.  In the bacon fat.  

I add a little bit of seasoning salt and pepper for flavor.  I'm a big believer in seasoning as I cook.

Saute on medium low until your onions are nice and caramelized.

By now, your Peewee potatoes are probably done, so pull them out of the oven.  They look like this.  MMMMMMMM!

Throw your warm onions and potatoes into a large bowl so they can become friends.

I like my potato salad to be more on the tangy side.  Since we're adding crumbled bacon, I like to add a vinegar based dressing to add a hint of acid to help balance the nice, fatty bacon.  I love this kind of dressing, but you can add any kind of Italian dressing.  I add about a tablespoon.

I also like my potato salad to be just a bit creamy, so I add a tablespoon of Caesar dressing.  You could use ranch or even blue cheese or nothing other than the Italian dressing if you wanted.  

Yum....creamy.

I toss it all together.

Crumble your bacon and toss so they can become friends with the potatoes and onions too.

This can be served warm with a nice steak or piece of prime rib.  It even works served cold at a good ole burger or hot dog. 

Don't be afraid to experiment with these potatoes.  They are also great roasted, cut in half and topped with a bit of sour cream and chives and BACON for a simple appetizer.   Throw them in soups.  You could even mash them up, but I like to highlight their little, perfect bite sized shape. 

Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Casserole/Pasta

I just realized that this really isn't a casserole....or maybe it is?  If you bake it, I guess it could be called a casserole.  But I think it's really more like a pasta.

Whichever the case, this post is dedicated to my nieces.  They ADORE this dish and I ADORE  them so here goes...

Bug and Bean, this is for you gals!

I get a lot of credit/blame for introducing my nieces to not so healthy cuisine...shrugs.  My sister has always been really great about making sure they ate healthy.  Everything she fed them was organic and non-GMO, non-processed and no trans fats.  I worried for awhile when niece #1 insisted she only liked egg whites and hated the yolks (gasp!), but then I had a slight glimmer of hope when as a toddler, she ate butter like it was cheese at restaurants.  We resolved the egg white/egg yolk issue when I made her Hollandaise sauce (which is basically egg yolk and butter) and she loved it.  Whew, what a relief.  

I remember once when my niece #1 was little, I was babysitting and I made her a sandwich.  She took a bite, stopped, pointed at it and asked, "Eemo.  What's this?" (My nieces call me Eemo.  It means Aunt in Korean...of course for a while I was Mo-mo and then Elmo, but we got that straightened out.  Truth be old, I do miss them calling me Mo-mo.)

"It's a sandwich."

No.  What's THIS?"

Then I noticed she was pointing at the mayo.  

"It's mayonnaise."

"What's that? I've never had it before."

Uh oh. Crap.  I did it again. 

I'm also responsible for making them this dish for the first time EVER and of course, they LOVED it.  

All you need is:

1 pound of any kind of pasta (macaroni, rigatoni, rotelli spaghetti, egg noodles, seriously any kind).

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of tuna (I like tuna packed in water NOT oil)

cheddar cheese (shredded works best)

1 bag of frozen peas 

salt and pepper

Some people like to boil the pasta and mix all ingredients and bake it all in a casserole dish.  You can even top it with crushed potato chips or a butter and ritz cracker topping.  Me?  I like to do the least amount of dishes as possible, so I do this all in one pot.  Hence, Tuna Noodle Pasta (but I still call in casserole so clearly, I'm confused too).

In a large pot, bring water to a boil.  Cook your pasta until tender.  You can literally use ANY kind of pasta you have on hand.  The traditional way calls for egg noodles, but we're in no way traditional here so use whatever kind of pasta makes you happy.  

I used rigatoni this time...

bubble. bubble. bubble.

Just before I drain the pasta, I add the frozen peas right into the pot.  PLEASE PLEASE don't use canned peas.  Peas! Peas! Canned are just awful.  They are mushy and a weird color...unless you like that.  And if you do, sorry.  No judgement.  I used the whole 12 ounce bag.  I like peas.  You can use as much or as little as you want. It takes less than a minute for the peas to defrost.  Ding. Done.  You don't have to use peas if you don't want to.  Not everybody likes peas.

You can use frozen broccoli if you'd like.  Once I used broccoli because I didn't have any peas.  It's delicious that way too.  Niece #2 pitched a fit, but I think it was because 1) It's not what she's used to 2) She didn't like broccoli at the time and 3) She was just 4 years old.  

Then I drain all the pasta and peas into a colander.  It can sit in your sink for a bit while you move on.

I grab 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and add that into the pot with one can of drained tuna.  You don't have to use name brand here.  The Ralph's brand Cream of Mushroom works just fine too.  You can add a large family sized can if you'd like your pasta to be creamier.  Or even just a bit of milk.  Up to you.

Add 1 can of tuna  into the cream of mushroom soup.  I like to crush up the pieces of tuna, but you can leave them in chunks if you like them that way.

Add as much shredded cheddar cheese as you want and turn the heat on to medium low.

Stir until soup is hot and cheese is melted.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Then add your pasta and peas back into the pot, stir up and turn the heat off.

That's it!  It's done.  One pot.  Boom.

If you're paying attention this dish is also a close cousin to Chicken Rice and Broccoli Casserole and to Crack Casserole !!!!!

Btw, I text the above pic to my niece #1 and she text back, "Oh my Lord.  Is that tuna noodle casserole? !"  

I love you, Bean and Bug!!

Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole/Crack Casserole's Cousin

Have you met Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole?  It's the slighty less trashy distant cousin of Crack Casserole.  In fact, the base of this dish is exactly the same as the recipe for the hashbrown casserole that my friends and colleagues have affectionally nicknamed "Crack Casserole."  If you're interested in meeting Crack Casserole click here.

All you needs for this dish:

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

sour cream

cheddar cheese (or any cheese you'd like to use)

left over white or brown rice

1 12oz. bag of frozen broccoli (you can use more or even fresh)

cooked chicken (I used rotisserie for this version, you can also use grilled or boiled)

seasoning salt

black pepper

This started out as a way to try and get the Indian guy in my life to eat broccoli....I think I succeeded, but I may have sacrificed the benefits of broccoli buy drowning it in , eh, well frankly speaking, FAT.  BUT, the good news is, you can bump up the broccoli and not use as much cheese or sour cream or mushroom soup.  You don't even have to use rice....I start out making this dish with the intent to not add rice, but then I think about how much I like the rice in this dish so I always end up putting it in.  I tell myself that using brown rice makes it not as bad.  

Begin by pouring 1 12oz bag of frozen broccoli in a bowl.  I don't even defrost it.  Usually I use 2 bags because I like broccoli, but then the Indian gives me this "look" as we're eating it so sometimes I concede and just use one.  You can also feel free to use chopped fresh broccoli.  Just remember that you will need to bake for longer to cook the broccoli.  If using fresh, raw broccoli and you prefer your broccoli more al dente, then you don't have to bake for longer.  Okay?  Moving on.

I chose to use shredded rotisserie chicken that I had purchased at Costco.  You can use grilled chicken or even boiled chicken.  I've also just used chopped chicken and it also tastes good with ham.  This dish is super forgiving so you can feel free to change things around.

I added my shredded, rotisserie chicken into the bowl.  I used about 2 cups here.  

Again, as much or as little as you want works just fine!

I added about 2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese.  I find using shredded cheese is easier.  

You could just cube it if you only have block form.  

I added seasoning salt and black pepper.

I grabbed one can of cream of mushroom soup.  I just used the generic brand.  It was cheaper. It works.

Then I added about 1/2 a cup of sour cream.

I added already cooked brown rice that I had in my fridge.  I added about a cup to 2 cups.  If you don't have cold rice, you can cook a fresh batch, but let it cool before adding it into your casserole.  I don't know why but when using freshly cooked rice, the rice gets more mushy in the casserole than if you use cold, cooked rice.  I think it's because hot fresh rice is pretty moist so cooking it in the mixture of soup and sour cream makes it bloat easier than with cold rice.

If using feshly cooked rice, and you just don't have the time or patience to wait for the rice to cool down, you can just bake the casserole without rice and spoon the cooked casserole OVER fresh rice.   You can also eat this over pasta if you wanted.

That works too.

I grab a small glass casserole dish.  This is a 9x13 sized pan.  I like to use glass or ceramic.  

Spread your casserole filling evenly into the pan and bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes.  You just need to let the cheese and soups get hold and melted.  You could even do 400 for 20 minutes if you're in a rush.

You could also make this and add it uncooked into a ziplock bag or tupperware and freeze for later.

I like to serve it with a nice simple salad. 

Serves 4-6 people depending on what sides you're serving with it.  

But I won't judge you if you just eat this by itself. Technically, it's vegetable, protein and starch all in one!