A perspicuous mind: musing about food

Description:
It's getting warmer (and humid !) in southern part of Texas nowadays. We're definitely putting winter behind and welcoming spring to the fullest. I see many people start working out outdoor, doing yard work, gardening, and having meal outside.

The grass turns green, wild flower is blooming everywhere, and even our dog, Duke, doesn't want to be cooped up too long when we're at home.

Whenever the temperature and humidity increase, our eating habit change slightly. From hot and heavy meals such as stew, casserole and such, now we're enjoying lighter meals such as salad, light soup, and sandwiches.

Chicken salad is one of our favorite. We like it served as sandwich, on top of crackers (or cucumber), or with mix salad greens. This is the meal that screams 'SPRING' for us. The original recipe is from www.allrecipes.com, but I modified few ingredients to fit our taste. For chicken, I use rotisserie chicken bought from grocery store, and add couple different fruits such as apple, grape, and pineapple. Whatever are available at home.

This is also my submission for April 2009 Click! Food photography event. For more information on this event, please click here.



Ingredients:
4 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped celery
2 green onions, chopped
1 apple, diced
1 can pineapple, drained the juice, diced
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
ground black pepper to taste


Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise with paprika and seasoned salt. Blend in dried cranberries, celery, pineapple, apple, onion, and nuts. Add chopped chicken, and mix well. Season with black pepper to taste. Chill 1 hour.