Chicken Salad—that summer staple

Down our way, everybody makes the best chicken salad! It’s that wonderful go-to that no one ever turns down. Just the way Italian boys grow up comparing every red sauce to their sainted Nonna’s style, folks here hang on to the memory of Mamma’s summertime chicken salad on the screen porch under the magnolia.

This lunch or dinner salad is usually made with poached white meat with maybe a little chopped celery. Every once in a while, someone throws in a few grapes—or some renegade uses dark meat. One time a bowl even showed up with curry and raisins! And then there’s the mayonnaise war—Duke’s or Hellmans?

So here’s a basic chicken salad recipe blessed by the St. Cecelia Guild cookbook. Start here for a basic down-home taste—then make it your own.

• 2 cups cooked chicken, cut up
• ¾ to 1 cup celery, chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Salt, pepper and Tobasco sauce, to taste
• Mayonnaise
• Paprika

Put chicken, celery, salt, pepper and Tobasco sauce in large bowl and mix thoroughly. Add mayonnaise to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with paprika.

The Hive