On a quest to cook different, healthy things this summer I struck gold with this colorful chicken salad. The sweet dried cherries and crunchy celery in this dish gives you a fresh summer take on a family favorite. Pretty enough for company yet simple enough for family game night, you’ll be making this dish all summer long.

     Another great thing about this dish is it is easy to multiply the ingredients if you are cooking for a crowd or going on a picnic. There are many ways to serve this salad. You could use it as the filling for pinwheel rolls, or sandwiched between rolls or buns. My husband and I turned it into a fork-and-knife affair and layered ours on bagels as a kind of open-face summer sandwich.

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

4 boiled chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

½ of a white onion, finely chopped

½ cup of mayonnaise or a mayonnaise substitute

¼ cup of sweet pickled relish

¼ cup of sliced almonds

¼ cup of dried cherries

salt and pepper to taste

     Combine all your ingredients together and mix well. If the salad is not “sticking” together, add more mayonnaise. I recommend tasting this salad before you serve it, then adding more of certain ingredients to suit your family’s tastebuds. This is a very easy recipe to work with, and I hope you enjoy it!