Jalapeño Chicken Salad

By carvalhohm

1st prize winner from a Cook's Country magazine contest for chicken salad recipes. Pickled jalapeños can be found in the Mexican/ethnic foods section at the supermarket. It’s the best chicken salad I’ve ever had.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise (Note: do not substitute Miracle Whip or salad dressing; it’s too sweet)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 1/2 medium celery rib, finely chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 T. fresh cilantro or more, chopped
• 1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapeño chilies*, finely chopped. Do not use fresh jalapeños.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from food.sndimg.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Mix mayonnaise and lime juice in a small bowl until combined.

2. Toss chicken, celery, onion, bell pepper, cilantro, and jalapeños in a large bowl.

3. Add the mayonnaise mixture and toss until evenly coated.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.



Sigrid’s notes. You’ll most likely want to double the recipe as it really doesn’t make all that much and it’s so good you’ll want more.


* You might try using less than ¼ C. of the chopped pickled jalapenos and taste the chicken salad, especially if you or your guests like less heat. This isn’t supposed to be a hot dish.

Of course you can choose whatever brand of pickled jalapenos you wish, but I've had great luck with Mezzetta brand Express, Deli-sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers. They're my favorite brand for this salad. The label says they're "full flavor" "less heat". I like the tamed jalapenos because you can use more to get the flavor you want without creating a knock your socks off hot chicken salad. As the Mezetta website says,

“Our Tamed™ Jalapeños—a hybrid of a jalapeño and a bell pepper—were developed for us by Texas A&M University to provide all the flavor and texture of a regular jalapeño but with less heat. Mezzetta Tamed™ Jalapeños carry a trademark licensed exclusively to Mezzetta and are the perfect thing when you want the taste of jalapeño without knock-your-socks-off spiciness. If you like heat, though, you’ll love our Hot Jalapeños.”

Though they're sliced, chop them up into still much smaller pieces. The peppers should flavor the chicken salad without anyone biting into a big piece of jalapeno. Recipe calls for ¼ C. of the jalapenos. I used that much, but if you don’t use the brand of pickled jalapenos I described, you might want to start out with less and taste the resulting chicken salad to see if it suits your taste. If you want more, you can always add more.

WW Points Plus: 6

Nutritional Facts
Serving Size: 1 (92 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving% Daily Value Calories 226.9 Calories from Fat 12153%Total Fat 13.4 g 20%Saturated Fat 2.5 g 12%Cholesterol 59.2 mg 19%Sodium 336.4 mg 14%Total Carbohydrate 7.9 g 2%Dietary Fiber 0.5 g 2%Sugars 2.5 g 10%Protein 18.0 g36%