Easy Chicken Salad

Its 102 degrees here in the Twin Cities. When its hot I crave chicken salad and this version does not require turning on the oven and can be jazzed up easily. These are the basics:


published Wednesday, June 8th - 8:09am

Recipe:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups diced chicken (from store bought roast chicken or poached see below)
1 cup finely diced celery
1/3 cup slivered almonds

Optional:

1/3 cup Dried cranberries, cherries, grapes, mango cubes, apple cubes, jicima cubes, sliced radishes, capers

1 tablespoon fresh herbs like chives, cilantro, basil, oregano, mint, tarragon, parsley chopped

1 Tsp dried herbs like Curry, cajun spice, lowrys, pepper or mustard

Directions
Combine lemon juice, mayonnaise, and salt and blend well. Toss with chicken, celery and almonds. Serve on bread or crisp lettuce


To Poach Chicken:

The keys to poaching are: the size of the pan, the volume of liquid and the cooking temperature.


•Place chicken breasts in a pot that's just about large enough to fit them in one layer. Two medium chicken breasts fit snugly in my 2 quart round oven.
•Add poaching liquid so that it completely covers the chicken by at least a half inch to an inch.

•After bringing the liquid to a boil, reduce heat to a bare simmer so that only an occasional bubble breaks the surface. At this point, partly cover the pot, cook for about 10 minutes, then turn off the heat, leaving the chicken to finish cooking in the hot water for 10-15 more minutes.

•Remove chicken, then enjoy it warm or refrigerate it for later use. Slice or shred your poached chicken depending on what you want to use it for.