Simple Curried Chicken Salad

I know that everyone has their own special recipes reserved for the delicious meat left on the bones after roasting a whole chicken. Some like to make chicken soup, some make chicken sandwiches, some might make chicken fricassée. All scrumptious choices. But my favorite thing to make is this curried chicken salad. There are only a few ingredients in it, most of which you probably have on hand. I serve it over a bed of lettuce or arugula, which gives it extra crunch and freshness and makes it a whole meal in itself. Another fun thing about this recipe is that I don't measure anything. I'll give the "recipe" below in approximations. Don't let that stress you out! Just add ingredients until it looks well-balanced. As far as the curry/mayonnaise/yogurt mixture goes, start with just a teaspoon or two of curry powder, taste it, and add more if you're inclined toward a more pungent curry flavor.

Salad:
Leftover roasted chicken, pulled off the bone (or any other kind of chunked, or shredded chicken)
Several stalk of celery, diced
A handful or two of raisins
A handful or two of slivered almonds, roasted or not (I love the smoky flavor of the roasted)
One can of mandarin oranges, drained (add at the end so they don't get crushed when you stir)
Salt and lots of freshly ground pepper

Dressing:
Combination of mayonnaise and plain yogurt (I use about a 2 to 1 ratio)
Curry powder, to taste (start with one or two teaspoons and add more if you wish)

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a bowl. Make the dressing separately until you think it's perfect, then fold it into the chicken salad. Serve over a bed of lettuce, spinach, or arugula.

You can make all kinds of substitutions or additions with this chicken salad--walnuts, slivered grapes, diced tart apples, pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries or cherries. There are endless possibilities!

p.s. This is a tiny sneak preview, if you will, of a cookbook I co-authored with my father and brother (who took the photos). It's publishing in November! I was a little more specific with measurements in the book's version of the recipe, but I admit that I always have the most fun with this chicken salad when I wing it. If you want the "professional" version with measurements, you will have to go buy our book!