California Chicken Salad

Do you ever just have these cravings and you can't quite figure out how to satisfy it? You pretty much start eating everything in your fridge, your pantry, your snack drawer and then you are so stuffed but still have a hankering for something.

I felt like that recently and actually it was during Hurricane Matthew so we were working with a lot of food in the house since I stocked up on all my necessities.       

No worries the Hurricane did hit florida but central florida was lucky and we only had some rough winds and heavy rains for a few hours. 

Anyways, I decided to food prep the day before to make sure we had meals we could eat cold incase we lost power. One of the things I made was plain shredded chicken in the crock pot. I figured this could be eaten cold with a salad or turned into chicken salad with the help of some mayo and other items I had in the fridge.   

That is how this delicious Salad was born. I was on an epic eating rampage and decided to make this salad which helped quench my craving and save the day.                                         

The funny thing is that there was this meme going around and it described my mood perfectly. It was almost like my brain was in survival mode telling me that I had to eat because there is a chance that won't happen again if this Hurricane hit. I clearly don't have a survivalist brain because rationing would make more sense instead of gorging myself with all the food in my house.  So this salad came to be because lately I have been on a grape kick. I think I have been purchasing 2lbs of red grapes a week. This seemed to have started when I stopped drinking wine. I figure grapes are healthier. So all my fruit servings of the day are grapes. Frozen or cold doesn't matter. I also had this shredded chicken. Mayo and I am a really big spice and herb advocate. I believe in "the more the merrier" when it comes to seasoning food. There is just something about flavoring plain food and changing the taste just by adding some guilt free items like rosemary or tarragon.  So with just a few ingredients I made my new favorite lunch snack. Its simple to make and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did. It really only lasted that one day and all 4 helpings of it were amazing. 

California Chicken Salad
aka "Hurricane Matthew Salad"

4 cups shredded cooked chicken (this was about 3 breasts)
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 cup chopped celery (optional)
2 cups halved seedless red grapes
3/4 cup Olive Oil Organic Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped Tarragon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper



Directions are simple... Combine in bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. 
Which in my case was immediately. 
I have to say however, the second and third serving were amazing after all the flavors came together while they were chilling (haha) in the fridge for a few hours.