Light Chicken Salad

Who doesn’t love a chicken salad? I know, rhetorical question. Everybody loves it. Minus the vegans and the vegetarians (sorry pals).
A chicken salad it’s one of those all-American great foods. Perfect on its own, better in sandwiches. A total crowd pleaser.
But. Yes, there is a but and I started the sentence with it. Apologies to you grammar purists, I know I just broke one of the “sacred” and “must be obeyed” rules of written English. Never start a written sentence with a “but”. My bad.
But (again) chicken salad is generally loaded with calories. Almost 500 for 1 cup, with nearly 70% of these calories coming from fat. Too much.
There’s only one to blame for this hot mess: mayo.
However, mayo is what really makes a chicken salad. Without it, it would just be boiled chicken with celery and onions...pretty blunt, huh?  With mayo it all comes magically together.
So, my dear mayo what can we do about you? We have no other choice but to let you go.
That’s when Greek yogurt comes to our rescue. Like Batman when the signal fires into Gotham City’s sky. That kind of cool.

Let’s start from the beginning. First off we boil the chicken with onion, celery and parsley. That alone enhances flavors. Next we make an emulsion of Greek yogurt, vinegar and just 1 tablespoon of mayo (after all we’re still dealing with a chicken salad).
Mix everything together. One last touch of dried cranberries and the job is done: AMAZING.
With this awesome chicken salad I made myself a dainty sandwich: so good.
I know what you guys are thinking. Yes, it’s white bread. Wait; don’t get riled up. An explanation is necessary.
Thing is, I went to Bien Cuit bakery in Brooklyn, it was late and there was no whole wheat bread left. I picked an Organic Sourdough Campagne Bread instead (not as in champagne bubbles but as in countryside campagne). It has an awesomely thick crust and it’s so dense and filling. A very rustic bread. Not whole wheat but still pretty healthy.
Anyway, this chicken salad is really light. With just 134 calories per serving, you can have seconds and all it will all be good.

Light Chicken Salad Print this recipe!

Ingredients
Serves 6

2 boneless chicken breasts
1 vegetable bouillon
½ medium onion (divide into ¼ + ¼)
3 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 container / 7 oz / 200 gr 2%Fat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon Light Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
pepper to taste
¼ cup dried cranberries

Directions

In a medium saucepan, place chicken breasts, 1 celery stalk cut into big pieces, ¼ onion, parsley and cover with water. Add bouillon, bring to a boil, lower to simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken, let cool, and cut into small bites*.
In a small bowl mix the Greek yogurt, light mayo, vinegar and parsley. Set aside.
Finely chop the remaining ¼ onion and celery.
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Top with dried cranberries and serve.

*Please, do not throw away all that good tasting vegetable broth you just made. Skim the excess fat and make yourself a hearty soup.

Nutrition facts

One serving of light chicken salad scores 149 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbs and 18 grams of protein.

The Iron You