You know the drill: you head to your car or train and realize that the lunch you spent an hour preparing the night before is still sitting in the refrigerator, taunting you. On the days that you don’t forget to pack a lunch, or even for a great spring, mid-day meal, this curry chicken salad is perfect. The sweetness of the apple combined with the crunch of pecans adds a layer of complexity to the creamy, curry-flavored chicken that you can easily add to bread, or top on a salad.

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Curry Chicken Salad

Ingredients (2 servings):

  • 2 grilled chicken breasts, chopped
  • 1 stalk of celery, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons lowfat yogurt
  • ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
  • ¼ chopped pecans
  • ½ apple, chopped
  • ¼ tsp of curry powder
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in bowl until evenly mixed. Enjoy.

 

Dirty Rice

These days, especially as summer approaches, I’ve been trying to stay away from the carbs. Sometimes, though, while eating another salad, I’ll pretend it’s my mother’s dirty rice instead. My food imagination has taken me to heights you cannot believe. We should all be so blessed. “Dirty”, or Cajun rice is called such because of the bits of meat that give it its brown color. Recipes have different variations, but I find this one to my favorite because I’m not a huge fan of chicken liver. A Louisiana favorite, dirty rice serves well as a side or main dish, and tastes even better the next day.

Ingredients (4 servings):

  • 1 pound spicy ground pork sausage or ground chicken (you can also use both)
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 1/2 cup of finely diced green bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup of celery, chopped
  • 2 cups of chicken broth/stock
  • 3/4 cups long-grain rice
  • 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Creole seasoning to taste
  • 1 tsp of dry mustard

 

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.

Add meat and stir until browned, about 8-10 minutes.

Add bell peppers, onion, celery, garlic and all seasoning.

Reduce the heat to medium and scrape bottom of pan for more flavor.

Add rice and continue to stir and scrape the pan for about 4 minutes.

Add chicken stock and continue to cook for about 4 minutes.

Cover skillet and reduce to low heat.

Cook for ten minutes, then remove from heat.

Let sit until rice is tender, about ten minutes. Serve and top with fresh parsley.

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