Cooking for The Chiropractor: Chicken Salad

Our favorite chicken salad recipe makes a great to-go lunch!

I’ve had more than one person ask me, after they’ve gotten to know my husband a little bit (or after he’s gotten excited about one of his nutrition topics in response to someone asking a health related question), “so what do you guys eat?”

Ha ha.  This is kinda a fun question because it’s messy.  Let me start by repeating what one of my church leaders once plainly said: What we know isn’t always reflected in what we do. (David A. Bednar)  Doesn’t that apply to a lot of life?  And that’s okay.  My personal beliefs include a plan that allows for our mistakes and mess-ups, with learning and growth along the way.

So I preface this post with the disclaimer that as much as I will support and share and advocate for all the things that will contribute to optimal health–because that’s what I am seeking myself–I/we can’t claim to practice it all perfectly and have plenty of room to grow.  I certainly have a sweet tooth, and let’s be honest–hormones sometimes get the best of me!  But when it comes to cooking for The Chiropractor, I have to keep a few things in mind if I want to make something he will be able to enjoy (and not be complaining about for hours later on while he struggles to digest…)  However, contrary to what some might think due to his slender physique, he can, and does, put away quite a lot.  And cooking for him has caused me to become much more intentional about how I prepare meals.

So in general what do we eat? Well the meal plan is ever evolving, but: lots of smoothies (he makes one every morning for his breakfast, I tend to stick more with supplement drinks).  Eggs in every form–omelets, breakfast casserole, hard boiled, fried eggs with bell peppers and green onion or whatever left over veggies we have.  Potatoes–one of our current favorites is a baked sweet potato bar with all the fixings.  We also love rosemary garlic hash browns.  A staple dinner around here is a ground beef and veggie stir fry, featuring peppers or zucchini or broccoli (or whatever needs to be used), and always onions and garlic.  Of course a good salad.  During the cold weather months we eat lots of chili (red and white) and vegetable stews.  Our typical seafood meal is salmon with broccoli, though we enjoy other types of fish too.

But the recipe I want to highlight here, as the first of a “Cooking for The Chiropractor” series,  is one that I’ve been making since before The Chiropractor was in the picture. It makes for a simple but filling dinner and the leftovers are perfect for lunch later in the week. I was doing a round of Whole30 with a coworker, and found this recipe for chicken salad in one of their Instagram posts.  I tweaked it a bit to my liking and at this point I don’t really measure anything.  If that makes you crazy this recipe won’t be for you, but if you’re in the market for a really good chicken salad and willing to experiment a little, this is one we really enjoy.  (On a side note, we took this with us for lunch on a 5 mile hike in north Georgia once, and the seasonings in it were fragrant enough–or we were just lucky enough–to attract a medium sized black bear while we were stopped on a log bench.  He couldn’t have been more than 15 feet away when we first noticed him behind us and it was a little terrifying for me.  But he eventually retreated and we continued on our way.  So beware–this recipe may attract unwanted guests!)

There are a million chicken salad recipes out there and I don’t claim that this one is extremely unique, but I do really like the addition of the curry.  And The Chiropractor approves.

Curry Chicken salad

ingredients:

• shredded chicken (prepared however is easiest for you–I use the Instant Pot)
• green onions
• red onions
• chopped apples
• grapes
• diced celery
• toasted walnuts or almonds
• mayo (Whole30 has a good homemade mayo I love)
• spicy brown mustard
• Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic, curry, parsley

This black bear came by to see what we were having for lunch–I took the picture once there was some distance! Garlic, onion, and curry in your chicken salad will make it un”bear”ably enticing!