"Fancy" Chicken Salad

I don’t like chicken salad.  I never have.  Well, not until I discovered this stuff.  It’s a combination of a few people’s recipes and a few tweaks of my own.  It’s another one of these “add what you like, leave out what you don’t” type things, which is what I love!  Another thing that I love is that here is no mayo in this stuff—absolutely none.  Some people like a lot of mayo in their chicken salad, some people like just a little, but if I know that it’s in there (even if I can’t taste it), it really freaks me out, and I can’t eat it, so I have come up with an alternative.  

This stuff is perfect for any occasion.  I call it “fancy” because it looks fancy, but it doesn’t have to be made for a fancy tea party or bridal shower.  It’s also perfect just for lunch at work or a quick weeknight supper.  However you chose to enjoy, just trust me when I say that you will truly enjoy it. 

Start with two blocks of softened cream cheese.  I used the fat free kind because there is so much other stuff in the salad that I don’t notice, but if you need to know that there is full fat cream cheese in your chicken salad, do it if for no other reason than peace of mind.  Use  a mixer to beat the cream cheese.

Then, pour in about 1/3 cup olive oil and use the mixer to mix it all up.

Add a bag of Craisins (dried cranberries) and a small bag (or whatever amount you want) of pecan pieces.

Add a diced red bell pepper, a diced yellow bell pepper, a bunch of chopped green onions (the green parts and the white parts), 2 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic (the kind in the jar), and a teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning.  I have since then realized that I actually like this chicken salad better without the lemon pepper, but I’ve never had complaints with it in there.

Add all the meat from a cooked chicken.  I like to use a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken because a) it’s super flavorful, and b) it’s easy, but you can boil or roast your own chicken if you want.

Mix it all up with your mixer, and you’re done.  Our favorite way to eat it is on mini croissants, but it’s equally as delicious on crackers, straight up on a fork, etc.