Curry Chicken Salad 

Ingredients: 

1 whole roasted chicken, picked and diced

½ red onion, diced

4 stalks of celery, diced

1 cup of crushed cashews

1 cup of dried cranberries

¾ cup low fat mayo

1½ table spoons curry powder

1 table spoon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.  Stir thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined and coated.  Add more mayo if necessary.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Make this chicken salad the night before and refrigerate it over night so it has time to chill and allows the flavors to marry.  This is a great chicken salad to serve on sandwiches, in a pita, in wraps or to eat by itself.

Serves 4-6

Vegetarian Portobello/Brie Burgers

Ingredients:

3 Portobello Mushrooms

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

2 slices of brie (or your favorite cheese)

1 tea spoon of dried rosemary or Italian seasoning or your favorite seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

This dish works best when cooked on a grill with medium heat.  Brush the mushrooms with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar and give that time to soak in.  Place the shrooms on the grill and cook them just like you would a burger.  Mushrooms are like sponges and hold a lot of moisture, as they cook they’ll loose moisture and start to ‘deflate’ when they get thin make a triple decker stack with the shrooms and cheese slices.  Take this time to sprinkle the layer with your favorite dried herbs or seasoning and salt and pepper.  Stack the up, let them grill until the cheese melts then put them on a bun and prepare like any other burger.  Enjoy.

This recipe serves one…but just scale it up to serve more.

Roasted Potato Salad with A Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

Salad Ingredients:

12 medium sized, Yukon Gold potatoes (or whatever variety you like for roasting),                                                                                                                                          diced and roasted

½ cup of julienne red onions

3 cups of julienne bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow)

½ cup of chopped Italian parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

¾ cups of safflower oil

¼ cup of balsamic vinegar

1-2 table spoons of whole grain mustard

½ table spoon of maple syrup or honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the vinaigrette simply combine all the items in your blender and run on high until they’re combined.  Taste it often and alter the ingredients to suit your individual taste.  Pour into a separate container for transport.

Combine the salad ingredients ahead of time and toss to evenly distribute the ingredients throughout the salad.  When you get to the picnic site dress the salad with the vinaigrette and season it to taste.  This will prevent the salad from getting soggy while you travel.

Serves 4-6