For a Quick Meal, Try Curried Chicken Salad

One of my favorite spice blends is Madras curry powder.  If you don't have it, do yourself a favor and go buy some.  It has a strong, complex flavor that comes from spices like tumeric, cumin, coriander, chillies, fenugreek, cinnamon, salt, garlic, etc...  It's generally yellow in color and spicier than some other curry powders.  I personally like Sun Brand which is the standard Madras in a little tin container.  This week I decided to make a curried chicken salad using my favorite time-saving technique: I used an already roasted chicken from the supermarket. his saves on time and deli rotisserie chickens are delicious.  It's a win-win!
I prepared a big batch of this curries chicken salad at the beginning of the week for my lunches at work. Then, throughout the week I used it to make sandwiches, used it as a dip with crackers, topped it with sliced avocado, put it over some brown rice...  Essentially it's a good base to jazz up for a delicious and healthy meal.

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 whole roasted 2-lb. chicken

1 celery stalk small diced

1/3 cup raisins roughly chopped

1/3 cup roasted almonds or pecans roughly chopped

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder

1/4 cup mayonaise (add more if desired)

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Remove all of the meat from the bone of the roasted chicken and cut it into small chunks roughly the size of a nickel.  

2) In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients (including the chicken) and stir to combine.  Eat immediately or refrigerate and use within a week.  

**I reserved the bones from the roasted chicken and made stock out of it by boiling it for several hours in about 6 cups of water along with salt, pepper, herbs like parsley and dill, chopped carrots, onions and celery.