Chicken Salad with Pecans & Apples

Happy first day of Spring! Okay, I know Spring technically started yesterday.  But today is my birthday, and until recently, the Spring Equinox was almost always on the 21st of March, so I still celebrate it then. In honor of the first day (ahem) of Spring, I decided to make the Spring-iest of foods, a Chicken Salad Sandwich.  I hadn't made the recipe in a long time, mainly because it was too high in calories for my diet.  However, I decided to play around with the recipe a bit, and lo and behold, I was able to create a delicious, healthy, low calorie, guilt-free chicken salad!  I served it on lettuce wraps, and I swear to you, I didn't miss the bread at all. I also pinky swear that my guilt-free chicken salad tastes just as good as the guilty kind. 

Chicken Salad with Pecans & Apples

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 1/2 Cups Mayonnaise

2/3 Cup Sour Cream

Juice of 1 - 2 Oranges, to taste

1 Tbsp Dried Parsley

1 tsp Salt, to taste

2 - 3 Apples, diced small

2 Cups chopped Pecans, toasted

2 1/2 Cups (~12 oz) Golden Raisins

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the chicken how you prefer. I'm lazy so I often just boil for 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. However, you can bake it, cook it in the instant pot, use leftover chicken, whatever.  Let cool and then dice or shred the chicken and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, seasonings, and orange juice. 
3. Stir in the apples, nuts, raisins, and chicken into the mayonnaise mixture. Gently stir until evenly coated.  Taste test and adjust to your preference.  
4. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more; I think it tastes better if the flavors have time to meld.  If you don't have time, don't worry, it's still fine to serve right away.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size: 1/8th of Mixture

Calories: 336

Fat: 19

Carbs: 11

Protein: 30