Charleston Chicken Salad

I have a secret that makes this fast and easy.  Here it is:  I used canned chicken.  I know.  You're horrified.  Brent was too.  In that moment when he saw me crack open that can, the look on his face said everything he thought he knew about me was wrong.  Then I told him his mom uses canned chicken for her chicken salad sometimes, and that made it all OK.

I'm telling you, you won't notice the difference.  If you have the time to cook and shred the chicken, by all means, do it.  But this is a little short cut I use sometimes.  

Now you may be asking, what makes this chicken salad a Charleston chicken salad?  Well I'll tell you.  Pineapples!  They are all over the place in Charleston.  It's because back in the olden days, the people of Charleston would place pineapples on their front porches as a symbol of welcome.  There's more to the story but that's all I can remember.

Anyway, I love, love, love Charleston.  I am going back there this year, so I am making this chicken salad to celebrate! Pineapples for everyone! 



Charleston Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2 10 oz cans premium white meat chicken, drained
8 oz can pineapple tidbits
4 oz Neufchatel cheese, room temp (or light cream cheese)
1 lemon
1/4 cup plain almonds
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grab your almonds.

Give them a chop.

Feel free to chop them finer than that.  I was tired so I stopped there.

Now place the chopped almonds into the oven and toast for 4 minutes.  Once toasted, remove from oven and allow to cool. 

In a large mixing bowl, add cheese, 2 Tbsp of pineapples, plus 2 Tbsp pineapple juice.

With a fork, mix this together.  Crush the pineapple some with the fork and work to combine completely.  You can mix this in the food processor if you want it to go faster.  Or you can buy crushed pineapple (that would probably be the easiest, but I just used what I had).  The mixture should become a mayo-like consistency.  

Next, add the zest of a lemon to the cheese mixture.

Now cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice of half the lemon into the cheese mixture.  Add salt and pepper.  You may want to start with 1/4 tsp of each, then add more at the end if you want to. 

Now stir until totally combined. The consistency should be a little thinner than mayo, but very creamy.

Next dump in the drained chicken.

Fold cheese mixture into the chicken.  Use a fork or your spatula to break up chunks of chicken as you stir.  Then add the rest of the pineapple, drained.  Don't add any more juice.  (Note:  I did not add quite all of the pineapple.  Just add however much you want.  The more pineapple you add, the sweeter it will be)

Then add the toasted almonds.

Now stir to combine, taste, and adjust your seasonings.  I added a lot more pepper at this point, and some more salt as well. 

Serve with crackers, or on a sandwich.  Enjoy!