Well, after I conquered homemade mayonnaise (made with Key lime juice instead of lemon juice just to see how good it was… perfection), I realized that I had to put it to good use and what to do with about almost a cup of the best mayo I’ve ever tasted? Chicken salad! The deli at Lowe’s Foods makes it with grapes and walnuts and I have duplicated it without the walnuts before. Decided that pistachios would go well with Key lime mayo and pineapple would go better with lime than dried cranberries. There are a lot of recipes out there and I’m going with what I like.
Ingredients (makes 4 to 5 cups)
4 chicken breasts (may be bone-in or boneless, may be skin-on or skinless)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup chopped celery (include leaves if present)
1/2 cup Key lime mayo (Note that any good mayo will do, Hellmann’s, Duke’s, … but increase Key lime juice by 1 tsp)
1/4 cup Duke’s Sandwich Relish (“It’s got twang”)
4 tsp Key lime juice (fresh squeezed is best or Nellie and Joe’s)
3 tsp sugar
3/4 cups red seedless grapes, cut into 4ths
3 Oz crushed pineapple, drained
3 Oz chopped pistachios (may add or substitute chopped pecans and/or walnuts)
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp thyme
Directions
Place chicken breasts in a Dutch oven, pour chicken broth over it, and add thyme. Add water if necessary to cover breasts. Bring to boil and cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is done (160 F internal temperature).
Remove from heat, turn off burner, and allow to cool in fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove breasts from broth. Reserve broth for another use in a sealed container and freeze.
If breasts are bone-in, remove and discard. Also discard skin if they are skin-on.
Shred chicken finely using two forks and a sharp knife.
Mix the crushed pineapple, sugar, Key lime juice, salt, and pepper together with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Mix in the Key lime mayo and Duke’s Sandwich Relish until well combined.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
Decide how much to use within a couple of days and how much to freeze (if any) and place in sealed containers.
Refrigerate what you plan to use, covered, for at least 3 hours. Do not let this sit out. Refrigerate right away.
Use chilled chicken salad as desired… in croissant sandwiches, wrapped in Bibb lettuce, with crackers, …
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