In the area where I live, summer can tend to be a brutal season where the temperature outside skyrockets and the humidity tries its best to outdo the heat.
A few years ago, we experienced an even worse phenomenon of the usual high temperatures and humidity of summer along with almost unbreathable, foggy air--day in and day out--because of a bunch of fires in the swamps that are some miles distant from here. I remember going on early morning walks around the neighborhood with my mother, and when we would return home from those walks, my clothes would smell as though I had been at a bonfire. There was little to no escape from it, even indoors.
Yes, heat and humidity are summer opponents here that must be acknowledged--and then strategized against.
One day last week, it was simply too hot outside to move. Indoors wasn't much better. It was one of those times where the air feels like a sticky vat of lukewarm caramel surrounding you from head-to-toe. Come to think of it, a vat of caramel doesn't sound awful at all--that's when you're thinking of it in terms of eating it though, not trying to get the housework and grocery shopping done! I made up my mind that dinner that evening would in no way, shape, or form include cooking. And I love cooking, so that was the extreme that I had been pushed to.
In the midst of my trying to figure out what on earth I was going to put on the table for dinner, it dawned on me...
Chicken salad.
My mother has the most amazing recipe for chicken salad--it does not fail to win rave reviews whenever it is made. However, chicken does have to be cooked in order to be safely edible, and that would have meant going against my determination to not cook that evening. And then--voila! Tyson Chicken availed itself as the rescuer of our dinner. As I'm certain is true of many other poultry-selling companies, Tyson has a line of absolutely scrumptious and really well-seasoned pre-cooked chicken items.
The following is my mother's amazing chicken salad recipe, with my "It's too hot to cook today!" modifications...
Ingredients:
1 box of pre-cooked diced pre-cooked chicken
mayonnaise
red seedless grapes
sliced almonds
salt and pepper
sliced bread
Instructions:
This recipe is based on eyeballing the ingredients--hence why I didn't include actual measurements in the list of ingredients. Place the diced pre-cooked chicken into a bowl, then add in just enough mayonnaise to lightly coat all of the chicken. (By my estimate, this is around 1/4 cup for three servings of diced chicken.)
Slice the red seedless grapes in half--you can add in as many or as few grapes as you want; the same goes for the almonds. Add both of these ingredients into the chicken-and-mayonnaise mixture and stir well. Season with salt and pepper until it suits your tastes, and serve on the slices of bread. (I like to use nice big slices of white Italian bread with my chicken salad!) C'est tout!
With this recipe, you will find a dinner that is quick and easy to make. It's also one of the most mouthwatering, creamy and crunchy, salty and sweet, soul-warming comfort foods that I have ever run across--and it is perfect for hot summer months when the last thing that you want to do is get caught in the blazing inferno of the kitchen all day! Mom's chicken salad is great paired with Mediterranean-flavored root vegetable chips--an even more delicious version of potato chips, I've found--and a nice big glass of ice-cold sweet tea.
I have a recipe for that too. Next blog. *winkwink*
À bientôt,
Cait
No comments:
Post a Comment