Back when I was in college, I worked as a waitress in a restaurant. One of the seasonal items on the menu was chicken salad beautifully served in half of a cantaloupe. I’m sure I served it to the restaurant guests, but I never had one myself, and I don’t have the slightest idea of what was in the chicken salad recipe, except for the chicken. But I remember the presentation and how wonderful it looked served in the cantaloupe.
What better dish is there to have for a lunch on the patio than a summery delicious salad? This salad has some sweet and savory favors going on. The sweetness of the cantaloupe and red grapes are beautifully balanced by the savory curry spice.
Chopped pecans, and red onion, nestled in with the white chicken and grapes, add a light crunch to the salad. The addition of curry powder is a pleasant surprise – yummy in tuna salad, too!
We love this curry chicken salad recipe, which has just a few ingredients – and it can be prepared fairly quickly. And that’s a good thing, right? Simple and quick!
Cantaloupe & Curry Chicken Salad
(Serves 2)
10 .oz can chicken breast (or your own cooked chicken)
1/3 cup red seedless grapes, quartered (halved, and halved again)
1/4 cup pecans, chopped pieces
3 T mayonnaise, heaping
2T red onion, finely chopped
1 t curry powder
1 small ripe cantaloupe, halved
Prepare:
Drain can of chicken, and place in a mixing bowl. With a fork, gentle flake the chicken.
Rinse red seedless grapes, and quarter them by halving them, and halving again. Finely chop 2 tablespoons of red onion.
Add mayonnaise in the bowl with the chicken. I usually put the curry powder on top of the mayonnaise, and mix it together a bit so it gets evenly distributed. Place the red grapes, red onion, and pecans in the bowl, and gentle mix all the ingredients until blended. Do not over mix.
Wash and rinse the cantaloupe well, and cut it in half. Remove the seeds and fibers from the center of both halves.
Cut a slice off the bottom of each halve, so that the cantaloupe will set upright on the plate.
Place the chicken salad in the center opening of the cantaloupe, filling the opening, and mounding the salad on top, sort of creating a shape like a ball.
Refrigerate until serving, and keep any leftovers refrigerated as well.
Served chilled with club crackers, or melba rounds.
~M
We are participating in:
Foodie Friday – Simple Living and Eating
Foodie Friday – Rattlebridge Farm