Moira's Curried Chicken Salad

I'm continuing to honor Mother's Day by posting recipes from my mom and mother-in-law all week long.  Today's recipe comes from Moira, my mother-in-law.  This is a recipe Ryan ate often as a teen and when he took his first bite of my version, he said it brought him back to his childhood.  I've made curried chicken salad before, but I've never made one with mango chutney in it.  The chutney really takes the salad to another level by bringing a great touch of sweetness, acidity, and spiciness that most chicken salads don't have.  

The best part of this recipe is that it's so easy to make.  All you have to do is poach the chicken, chop the celery and grapes, and then mix all the ingredients together!  We're definitely putting this recipe on the menu again soon.  Again, it's a really great low carb meal (if you eat it as a salad), which is something we've been testing out these days.

I'll be honest, the original recipe said that it makes 4 servings, but we could have finished the entire thing in one sitting.  I had to tell Ryan that we had to stop eating it so we could have it for lunch tomorrow too.  I enjoyed mine with 2 pieces of lettuce and a slice of toast because I couldn't decide between a salad and sandwich.  I would recommend this option too because you get the best of both worlds!  Even with one slice of toast, it's way lower carb than most dinners are.

Total Time: 20 minutes + 30 minutes for the chicken to cool

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breasts

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup red grapes, cut in half

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup mango chutney

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Optional: lettuce leaves or bread for serving

Instructions:

1. Put chicken in a pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Cook the chicken until done - about 10 minutes.
2. Remove the chicken from the water and allow to cool in the refrigerator.
3. Add chopped celery, grapes, and sunflower seeds to a large bowl.
4. Add mango chutney, curry powder and mayonnaise to the bowl and stir to combine.  Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
5. To serve as a salad - lay a lettuce leaf on the center of plate and place a scoop of salad in the middle.
6. To serve as a sandwich - toast 2 slices of bread and then place chicken salad between toasted bread.  Cut in half and serve.

How pretty is that?  Thank you Moira for the beautiful plating advice!

Stay tuned for some more yummy mom-inspired recipes coming later this week!

As I'm starting to study and learn more about nutrition, I'll be adding a nutrition facts section to each recipe.  This information is of course an estimate based off 1 serving and the approximate size/weight/etc. of the food you're consuming.  I just started tracking my diet using the Lifesum app (only yesterday, so we're still very early on) but it's been really interesting so far.  The nutrition information below is based off the Lifesum approximated nutrition information.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 580

Protein: 60g

Carbs: 38g

Fat: 20g

*Information based of 1 serving with 2 lettuce leaves & 1 slice whole wheat toast