Curried Chicken Salad

Serves 4 -6

1 lb cubed and cooked white chicken meat

¼ C Vidalia (or sweet) onion, finely chopped

½ stick celery, finely chopped

2 TLBS apple vinegar

1 ½ tsp brown sugar

2 heaping TLBS mayonnaise

1 heaping TLBS sour cream

1 TLBS soy sauce

1 TLBS curry powder

¼ tsp pepper

Optional:

¼ C chopped walnuts

1 medium Grannie Smith apple with peel, cored and cubed.

or

1 small can Mandarin oranges, drained

Cut pre-cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts into bite-size cubes. In a medium size bowl, mix chicken, onion and celery. Dissolve brown sugar in vinegar in a pan. Stir over low heat on stove, allowing some of the vinegar to cook off. Allow to cool. Add mixture to chicken. Stir in mayonnaise sour cream (extra may be added for a smoother salad). Mix in soy sause, curry powder and pepper. Add chopped walnuts and cubed apple. If adding Mandarin oranges, mix in gingerly, as oranges are quite delicate. Cover, allow to cool, and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. This is better the day after it has been made.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Serve on small sandwich rolls (such as Snow-flake rolls – they're called that because they're dusted with flour, but are really delicious as a sandwich roll), with red leaf lettuce; great with ice-cold lemonade on a hot summer day. This salad is also good on sandwich roll-ups or served open-face on thick slices of fresh bread.

©Wilma Carolyn Johnson Short

NOTES: The first time I ever experienced the delightful taste of curry chicken salad was at the Honolulu Art Museum. I suggested eating at there because most art museums have wonderful menus and I was not a bit disappointed. I was surprised with the rich and subtle flavors of this extraordinary chicken salad. Of course, when we returned home, I tried duplicating the salad myself. This is as close as I could get to the Honolulu version. I may have left something out. If I figure out what, you'll be the first to know. (Since first publishing this recipe, I have lowered the amount of brown sugar.)