Chicken Salad with Cashews: A Simple and Unique Recipe for Weeknight

I put enough water into a large pot to cover the chicken. I added some salt and a few pieces of carrot and celery to the water and boiled the chicken for about 1½ hours. I let it cool in the liquid before skinning it and removing the bones.

For this recipe, I used unsalted cashews but salted nuts would be fine if you added less salt to the salad in the end. If you don’t have a ring mold, you can use a cake pan with a hole in the middle (a Bundt pan works well). Grease the mold with a little olive oil to make the salad easier to unmold.

I boiled and sliced 3 eggs for garnish and put grape tomatoes in the hole in the middle of the salad.

The curry seasoning was perfect. This is a great dish to make ahead and serve for lunch or a light dinner.

Chicken Salad With Cashews

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup peeled, cored, and chopped apple
1 chicken (3 pounds), poached, skinned, boned, and cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper, to taste
lettuce leaves
sliced cherry tomatoes, for garnish
sliced hard-boiled eggs, for garnish

In a small bowl, whisk to combine 1 tablespoon of water and the lemon juice. Add the apple and toss to coat. In a large bowl, mix the apple, chicken, celery, and cashews together. In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise with the curry. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the large bowl and mix the ingredients to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Put the salad in a ring mold and chill until ready to serve on a bed of lettuce. Garnish with the cherry tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs.

Makes 8 servings.