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!

Farmer in the Queen City (recipe)

Babcie's Summer Salad
(scroll down for recipe)

Manchester, NH had a population of about 90,000 when I was growing up there. It's not a huge city, but I'm sure it was a bit of a culture shock for my grandfather who moved there from a farm in Poland shortly after the end of World War II.

If I were to walk onto my grandfather's property now, dressed the way I remember it from my youth, I'm sure I'd be the one in shock. You see, I currently live in a suburb of Boston, MA whose metropolitan area has a population about three times that of the entire state of New Hampshire and I'm horrified that my neighbors have a pair of chickens in their yard. When I was a kid however, Dziadzio's (pronounced Juh-joo, Polish for Grandpa) mini farm in the city didn't even phase me. It was a great place to visit and I was there almost every day. At one time or another, Dziadzio had three chickens, two ducks, a dog, countless rabbits (they really do multiply quickly), and a flock of pigeons.

But his menagerie was not my grandfather's claim to fame; THAT was his garden. My grandparents' home sat on a double lot which afforded the space for the animals and a huge vegetable garden along with (concord) grape vines, and fruit trees that bore peaches, plums, pears and crab apples. Needless to say, with all those pigeons, Dziadzio never needed to buy fertilizer. Our family was eating organic WAY before it was cool. I know this had at least some influence on his son-in-law (my dad) whose own yard boasted a good sized garden and a peach tree. I was raised to love raw vegetables and taught to use them in ways that emphasized, rather than masked, their natural flavors.

Babcie (Polish for Grandma and pronounced Bahb-chee) was an amazing cook and she had the best resources at her fingertips. Most plentiful were the tomatoes and cucumbers used in the recipe I share with you today. This is one of those family recipes that never really had a name. It's been handed down, one generation at a time, with instructions like, "Throw in a dollop of sour cream. I don't know how much; until it looks good." That's how my family cooks. I assume that's how most families cook. My Aunt always called it "Polish Salad" or "Babcie's Salad." Call it whatever you want, but try it. I love this stuff.

Babcie's Summer Salad

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tbsp. distilled white vinegar

two good sized cucumbers or one English cucumber, sliced a little thinner than 1/4"

two medium tomatoes, sliced in chunks or one pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

one half of a medium onion, sliced paper thin (optional)

In a non-metal bowl combine vegetables.

Add sour cream and toss to coat veggies.

Add vinegar and stir lightly. (Do not give into temptation to add more vinegar.)

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, but 4 hours or more is ideal.

Stir again and serve cold.

(Quite) A Few Notes about Ingredients:

I rarely peel an English cuke, but I always peel the traditional cucumbers (if they're from the grocery store) as they are usually heavily waxed to keep them fresh in transit.

Yes, you must halve your cherry or grape tomatoes. The juice of the tomato is necessary for the dressing.

I leave out the onions when I make this for the kids, but it's so much better with them in it.

Keep it simple. You may assume cider or champagne vinegar would improve this dish, but the whole point is to use simple, easy to find ingredients that really play up the natural flavors of the vegetables. The vinegar draws some of the moisture out of the veggies and makes a simple dressing that's wonderful.

Yes, you may use reduced fat or fat free sour cream and it will taste exactly the same.

And Here's Another Use:

After your veggies have set in the fridge for a few hours, toss them with about 8 oz. (dry weight) cooked, chilled pasta. (Yes, I love pasta salad.)

Or you could do what I did last week and drop a scoop on a bed of lettuce and have a terrific salad for lunch.

Kocham cie Babcie i Dziadzio.