When I was a kid mac and cheese was a vegetable, Jell-O could be passed off as a salad, the dessert table buckled under the weight of all those pies, and kids were left to their own devices at church potlucks. Most of the ladies in my church were southerners; they did all the cooking. I led a charmed life as a kid.
I think I must have been in my twenties the first time I ate a salad that involved green stuff other than lime Jell-o or grapes. I thought it was icky and went back to my pizza.
So here is my feeble attempt at salad. I got this recipe from my dear auntie in Arkansas. She got it from a fellow church potluck contributor. It has some green stuff in it and I serve it on a bed of greens but it still tastes good. It is an easy to fix meal when it is too hot to cook. It has the requisite greens, meats, fruit, and creamy sweet stuff needed to pull it all together.
I have cooked chicken especially for this salad but it is easier to use a roasted chicken from your local grocery store. Pull off what you need for the salad and save the rest for another meal.
For the dressing I prefer using plain yogurt in place of the mayonnaise.
Chicken Salad
1 cup cooked chicken
1 cup bow tie pasta
1 cup diced celery
1 cup green grapes, halved
6 ounces pineapple tidbits, drained
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Dressing:
½ cup plain yogurt or mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup cool whip
½ tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon sugar
½ cup pistachios or other toasted nuts of your choice
Cook the pasta al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
In a large bowl mix together the chicken, pasta, celery, grapes, pineapple, and eggs.
To make the dressing mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, cool whip, lemon juice, sugar, and pistachios in a separate bowl.
Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and mix gently. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I serve this over a bed of greens with some crisp bacon on top. Bacon always tastes good.