curried mango-chicken salad

(19 June 2008, a variation on a theme)

3 chicken 1/2 breasts, thawed & trimmed	1/2 c toasted almonds
coarse (kosher or sea) salt	4 Tbsp. lowfat mayo
coarsely ground black pepper	2 – 3 tsp. curry powder
garlic powder	1/4 tsp. hot chili paste w/ garlic
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped	1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced

1. Spread breasts evenly on a baking sheet, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bake at 350 until chicken’s internal temperature reaches 160. Do not overcook; dried out chicken is icky. Remove to fridge until chicken is completely cooled. (I tend to do this part the day before.)

2. Cube cooled chicken, and put into a large mixing bowl.

3. Add celery and almonds. (To toast almonds, you can either toast almond slivers or you can toast whole almonds and then chop them up. I do the latter, using my handy-dandy Cuisinart. Don’t chop too long, though, or you get crumbs, when what you want is crunchies.)

4. Mix together mayo, curry powder and chili paste. Taste, and add curry or chili to increase flavor depth or heat to taste. Mix curry mix into chicken mix.

5. To prepare mango: cut around fruit lengthwise, so as to create 4 quarters. Then cut flesh from the large (very large!) flat pit. Score the fruit deeply, trying not to cut the skin. Then invert the fruit, cutting skin from each cube. Add fruit to chicken mix.

6. Toss thoroughly and chill.

This is great as a sandwich filler or as a salad topper. I strongly recommend one of the following:

Sandwich: Stuff a pita with red leaf lettuce, a tomato slice, and alfalfa sprouts (or, my preference, broccoli sprouts). Then top with a scoop of the salad. You can also make this atop multigrain bread.

Salad: I recommend you use a light vinaigrette, like raspberry or cranberry walnut, and make the salad from a mix of spring greens, broccoli sprouts, tomatoes, and julienned carrots.