Aunt Bonnie's Chicken Salad Recipe

I know that it has been now 2 years since I updated this blog. I'm busy and with facebook being so easy and accessible I just haven't bothered with blogging. I have a reason today though. I made my Aunt Bonnie's incredibly tasty, delicious chicken salad for a friend's baby shower last week and EVERYONE was asking for the recipe. I want to add the recipe and then pin it on pinterest--my first! Did I take a picture of the actual chicken salad close up?! No I didn't. But it is in the picture above the crossiants. While this might not be the quickest recipe, I assure you it is worth the effort. My thinking these days is that homemade = better quality and taste with the plus of knowing exactly what goes into your food and therefore your body.

I wanted to also show some other pictures from the baby shower, Pink Lemonade theme. I didn't have my Nikon so forgive me for using my iphone (it is pretty handy though). My talented friend Brandy and her mom Tracey decorated using my vision and pinterest board ideas.

 

 

 

 

Aunt Bonnie’s Southern Chicken Salad

*Note this recipe made enough to feed about 20-25 people, so ½ if your making for a smaller crowd

Ingredients:

2- 3/4lb raw chickens

2 stalks celery, chopped medium to fine

2 apples, diced (I left the peel on since I used organic)

8 oz sweet pickle relish

3 green onions chopped  OR 1 TBSP of grated white onion

1 TBSP lemon juice

2 TBSP Dijon mustard

1-1.5 cup of mayonnaise (you can take it a step further and  make your own mayo)

 

Optional add-ins:

-sliced grapes

-toasted pecans or almonds

-5 boiled eggs-peeled and diced

 

Instructions

1.Cut chicken in ½ using butcher block scissors OR have your butcher do this OR buy the chicken already cut in ½

2. Boil enough water to be able to cover the chicken halves with water and cook on medium high temperature for 45 minutes-1 hour depending on how big your chickens are (my two pots were not that large so I had to do it in two batches, a half per pot)

3. Once chicken is fully cooked-(I always use a meat tester-don’t play around with chicken) then take the skin off (save) and remove chicken from bones (save) and chop/shred for the salad. Use the leftover skin and bones to make bone broth for soup later on in the week or to freeze. See an online friend’s (she’s pretty awesome-check out her recipes!) blog for how to make bone broth.

4. Do all your chopping and dicing and combine with chopped chicken. Add sweet pickle relish, apples, and lemon juice (will keep apples from turning). Mix mayonnaise and Dijon mustard together and then to salad. Salt and pepper to taste. Store in an air-tight container until serving. My Aunt Bonnie says you can make 2 days in advance and that it actually tastes better if you make a little ahead of time.

 

 Enjoy!