Curried Chicken Salad with Asparagus and Peanuts

(This recipe has been updated on the site into Curried Chicken Salad, which is slightly easier to make and uses pine nuts. I’m keeping this original recipe back in the archives in case someone was a fan of this version.)

Makes 4 generous servings, recipe adapted from The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook.)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fat-free Greek Yogurt
• 1/4 cup mayo (I used full-fat mayo, but low-fat would work)
• 1 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice (zest the lemon first, then squeeze the juice)
• 1 T curry powder (I used Penzeys Sweet Curry Powder)
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. sea sal
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb. boneless-skinless chicken breasts (about 3 trimmed chicken breasts)
• 1 T fresh-squeezed lemon zest (zest the lemon first, then squeeze the juice)
• 10-12 oz. asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1 inch strips and blanched (or use leftover cooked asparagus
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/4 cup sliced green onion
• 1/3 cup peanuts for garnish (or use other nuts of your choice)\
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Zest the lemon and then squeeze the lemon juice. (You need 2 tablespoons of juice, one for the dressing and one for cooking the chicken.)
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients and let the dressing stand while you prepare other ingredients
3. Trim any visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts. Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat, add chicken breasts and 1 T lemon juice, and saute chicken until it’s cooked through, about 5-6 minutes per side.
4. Let chicken cool, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
5. While chicken cooks, cut asparagus into pieces about 1 inch long and blanch for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, then drain well. I like to cut the asparagus on a diagonal for looks. (You can also use leftover cooked asparagus. Other leftover cooked veggies like broccoli, snow peas, or green beans would also work.)
6. Slice celery and green onions.
7. In a large bowl gently combine the diced chicken, cut asparagus, sliced celery, and sliced green onion.
8. Add dressing and stir until all salad ingredients are coated with dressing.
9. Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper
10. Divide the salad among four serving plates and sprinkle a few peanuts over each serving.
11. I found that this did not keep in the fridge as well as chicken salad with all-mayo dressing. (It seemed that the yogurt dressing kind of soaked into the chicken) If you don’t want four servings, I would only put dressing on the amount you’re going to eat, save the rest of the salad ingredients and dressing separately, and add dressing right before you eat it.