Dense salads continued . . .

 A pithy review of the last post

Dense salads . . .

1. consist of small pieces of real food plus a dressing (also real food).
2. are easy. It’s hard to “make a mistake” while preparing them.
3. are good “fast food” because they keep in the fridge a few days and we can nosh on them any time. They help keep us out of the cheesecake and chocolate (mostly).
4. are good for you. You make them out of REAL FOOD.
5. are infinitely (or close to it) variable so you don’t have to get bored eating them.
6. can be very economical.
7. Commercially prepared dense salads (like those in plastic containers or the big grocery chain deli) may have chemicals in them. Yuck! Chemicals taste bad and they are not a food group.
8. You learned how to make Basic Chicken Salad. If there’s anything you didn’t understand, or any steps you don’t know how to do, write me a comment and I’ll clarify it for you.

I know I didn’t say all those things in exactly those words, but those were the explicit and implicit lessons.

Basic Chicken Salad dressed up to impress the neighbors 

Michelle commented yesterday “Sounds like my “Instant Karma” chicken salad. I add some curry and raisins instead of apples. It’s addicting and good for your soul!” I love that name. She anticipated today’s post . . .

Curried Chicken Salad

“Curry” refers to a savory sauce seasoned with the  yellow powder we associate with sitar music and aging hippies. We aren’t going to make a sauce but we are going to use the powder.

It’s not a spice but a mixture of ground herbs and spices. There are probably as many combinations as there are Indian grandmothers but they all contain turmeric which gives them that yellow color. Other ingredients may include a bunch of C-words—cardamon, coriander, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, dried chilis—and maybe some ginger and fennel and mustard seeds. You can grind your own but I get it in small amounts from The Food Co-op bulk spices and herbs area though you can buy it at any grocery store. It can be mild or pack a lot of heat. I suggest you buy mild and add cayenne if you want it hotter.

To make “Curried Chicken Salad” follow the basic salad procedure except add some raisins like Michelle, or I like Craisins (sweetened dried cranberries) because I love the dark red with the bright yellow dressing. I usually add coarsely chopped almonds or pecans, and I leave in the apple (if I have one on hand).

Add some of the curry powder (a spoonful or two) to your mayo, blend it well, scrape it into the bowl with the small food chunks and toss the whole thing. By that I mean toss the ingredients in the bowl until everything is covered more or less evenly. Use a couple of forks or a spoon and fork. You want it sort of “fluffed up.” (I know, how can a dense salad be fluffy? The ingredients are dense, the salad is lightly combined. Don’t push all the air out of to stuff it into a container, for example.)

If you present this in a pretty bowl lined with lettuce leaves your neighbors at the annual close-off-the-street-potluck will be so impressed that they’ll smile and wave every time they see you for the rest of the year.

On second thought, it may not fly in some neighborhoods, but it’s very pretty nonetheless and when it comes to food . . .  beauty counts.