Two Avocados and a Chicken

Okay, I completely cheated on these two because I didn't actually follow either recipe to the letter. However, I was in the ballpark in each case.

Here goes . . .

Avocado Chicken Salad

One of my favorite foods in the world is chicken salad, but I'm allergic to soy. Anyone in the know understands that means no mayonnaise. Now, a little mayo, once in a while, won't kill me. Heck, it won't even affect me, but more often will give me a rash, and regular use . . . let's just say it isn't pretty. So, when I saw the recommendation that I could replace the mayonnaise in my beloved chicken salad with avocado, I was all over it.

By the time I reached the produce section at WalMart, I was exhausted and my cart was so full, I couldn't fit anything else into it. (For the record, I bought way more than just groceries that night and the produce section was my last stop.) I just wanted to get out of there and go home. Nearly two weeks later, my fridge, freezer, and pantry are still packed full. I may not need to buy groceries until Valentine's Day.

Anyhow, since I doubted I would use green onions in anything else, and I already had a bag of white onions intended for other recipes, I decided to skip those green onions. By the time I got to making the chicken salad, I had decided to skip the onion completely.  Here's what happened:

I poached the chicken in chicken broth (my favorite way to poach chicken--the flavor is amazing). After I let it cool and ran it through the food processor, I mixed it with the mashed avocado and about a tablespoon of lime juice. Then I gave it a quick taste.

That, my friends, was when I decided to abandon the recipe. You see, I'm not a huge fan of onion in my chicken salad, so I decided to just make it the way I love it: some chopped celery, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Normally I'd use garlic powder, but I hadn't yet found the garlic powder I packed. (Yeah, I know it seems strange that I brought garlic powder all the way from Boston, but it was crazy cheap, so I bought a big container of it right before I moved because I use so much of the stuff.)

The verdict: I've read that avocado can be used as a substitute in many recipes. Now I'm willing to try it just about anywhere. Oh, and pretty soon, I'll be posting my own recipe for guacamole.

I totally stole this photo from Becoming Betty's blog

Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado, and Goat Cheese

In all honesty, the reason I pinned this one was for the vinaigrette recipe, and I was less than impressed. Too much oil. I'm not a fan of oily dressing. Next time I try it, I'll replace a tablespoon of the oil with an extra tablespoon of mustard. When I threw the salad together, I did just that: I simply threw together whatever raw veggies I had in the fridge, plus some poached chicken breast that I cooked when I made the chicken salad and, of course, some avocado.

Still, the combination in the original recipe looks yummy, so it'll find it's way onto my plate at some point.

Happy Cooking!

"I Totally Made Yogurt!"

Those were pretty much the first words out of my mouth when I woke up yesterday morning. I was so excited I nearly cried.

Slow Cooker Yogurt

Okay, just for clarity, let me take you back to the beginning . . . It was only about two weeks ago that I tried plain yogurt for the first time. I had a couple of recipes that called for sour cream and decided to go with the plain, nonfat, Greek yogurt as a healthier substitute. I absolutely fell in love with the stuff. I knew I had pinned a yogurt recipe or two, so I put the ingredients for them on my shopping list and figured I'd test the recipe the next time I shopped for groceries.

The big secret ingredient? Milk. That's it. Cross my heart. You have to have a slow cooker and a couple of towels or a blanket. But pretty much all you need is milk. Oh, and half a cup of plain yogurt. Make sure it's the kind that has live cultures in it (I think they all do, but just in case). Then go here. Now follow all of Stephanie's instructions. I started around 4:00p.m. on Monday and let it go overnight.

I awoke Tuesday morning to the richest, creamiest, tastiest yogurt I've ever tried. I'm sure that's got to do with the fact that I used whole milk. You see, I was afraid I wouldn't get great results, so rather than take the chance of trying any alternatives, I went with Stephanie O'Dea's basic whole milk version. I'm no chicken in the kitchen, but this was just a completely foreign concept to me, so I played it safe.

However, I did buy almond milk specifically so I could try making a dairy-free version. I was very tempted to pick up rice milk and coconut milk as well, but, long story short, my cart was way too full by the time I hit the dairy section. I promise an update after the dairy-free experiment.

Creamy Banana Dressing

In the meantime, try your homemade yogurt as a substitute for the sour cream in this recipe. I sort of cheated because instead of grilling the chicken, I poached it in canned chicken broth (because I needed to poach some chicken for another recipe anyway) and I just wasn't up to pulling out the fry pan to saute it or sticking it under the broiler. (I don't have a grill.) Besides, it's not so much the chicken that's the star of this show, it's the fruit.

The verdict on this one isn't as exciting. I would definitely make this for a crowd. The dressing is fabulous and it's a nice alternative to the typical berry coulis or vinaigrette, but I really prefer my fruit salad completely naked. Although, I would consider stirring the dressing into a cup of plain yogurt. Maybe that can be Wednesday's breakfast.

Happy Cooking!