Monday, January 17, 2011

Chicken Salad in a Tomato Bowl

This recipe was inspired by my nephew, who enjoyed a similar meal at a golf club recently. It came together quickly and was a great no-cook meal for a hot summer night. I used ingredients I had on hand, so feel free to mix it up a little bit and use up those nuts and veggies in your fridge. Tomatoes are in season and taste great! I used a food processor to do most of my chopping, but you can use a knife, if you prefer. This recipe made enough chicken salad for lunch the next day.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients
3 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1/2 Granny Smith apple, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 scallions, white or red (I used red from my CSA), roughly chopped  (Reserve a few for garnish.)
1/2 cup raw macadamias (or almonds)
meat of 1 rotisserie chicken, about 4 cups, torn into pieces
1/2  cup paleo mayonnaise
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
sea salt (optional)
freshly ground pepper
3-4 firm tomatoes
6-8 large lettuce leaves
1 avocado, sliced


Preparation
Roughly chop ingredients before
transferring to food processor.
  1. Pulse first 5 ingredients in food processor until just chopped and well combined.
  2. Add chicken and pulse a couple more times to combine.
  3. Transfer mixture into a large bowl. Add paleo mayonnaise and vinegar and stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Remove the stem section from each tomato. Using a tomato knife or another sharp knife. Cut tomato into 8-10 sections, letting them fall flat to form a wheel-like pattern. Repeat for all tomatoes.
  5. To serve, set 2 lettuce leaves on each plate. Set tomato on top. Scoop 1/2 to 1 cup chicken salad into center of each tomato, depending on the size of the tomato. Garnish with chopped scallions. Serve with avocado slices. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

4 comments:

  1. This is the best chicken salad I have ever eaten. I made the paleo mayo for the first time.

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  2. Thanks, Barbara! So glad you liked it! I think mayo seems intimidating to make at first, but once you try it, it's very easy. Don't you think? So fast and so good, plus none of the crap in store-bought mayo. Thanks for posting!

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  3. I made this last night and followed the recipe except I used regular mayo as that is what I had. I served it just like the picture except did not have a avocado. The dish was delish! My husband had two servings and my son loved it! I will be having the leftovers today for lunch as a celery filling!

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    Replies
    1. So glad you liked this one, Janice. It's a great summer meal--especially when tomatoes are in season. Thanks for letting me know!

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