Chicken Salad Mirepoix Style

My favorite summer food is chicken salad.  I can eat it by the bucketful.  This past summer, I ended up making it often with a healthy twist.  I made a big bowl and we ate off of it for a few days.  Plus, it turned out to be a great dish to have for lunches with friends.  The Mirepoix touch added extra veggies and deep flavor layers.

Even though summer is almost over, there is still time to make it!

(If you don't know about Mirepoix, read this first!)

Throw a bag of frozen Mirepoix in a pot.  Add a 1 cup of water.
Put in 2 large (or 4 small) chicken breasts.  I use frozen.
Let this cook down.  Watch your water, you might need to add more.
After the chicken is fully cooked and cooled, drain it. Make sure it's cooled!
Keep the liquid to use as chicken broth.
Chop up your chicken - keeping the Mirepoix mixed in. Let it get super cool.

Now, the rest - you get to play with!  Here's what I do, but you can always leave something out.

Chop 3-4 celery stocks.
Chop 1 large or 2 small apples dipped in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Add 1/4 cup of light mayonnaise.
Add 1/8 cup of diced onions.  (Not the strong ones!  If you don't have onions - try just a few shakes of garlic powder.)
Salt and pepper to taste.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Ready for some variations?  Try 1 1/2 cups of dried cranberries or grapes.  Add nuts, if they are your thing.  Also, if you want to make it just a little sweeter, add a tiny bit of honey to your mayonnaise.

And to be honest, I love mayonnaise - so when I say 1/4 cup - I often loose my willpower and add a little bit more.

Come on, summer.  Stay just a little longer.


Would you like to see what else you can do with Mirepoix?  Find some tasty ideas here!