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 4

INGREDIENTS

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

2/3 Cup Mayonnaise

1/3 Cup Sour Cream

Juice of 1 Lime (3 Tbsp of Orange or Lemon juice would work too)

1/2 Tbsp Dried Parsley

1/4 tsp Red Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Apple with skin, diced

1 Cup Pecans, chopped (toasted is best) or Sliced Almonds

Optional: 2/3 Cup Golden Raisins or Dried Cranberries

8 Outer Lettuce Leaves (or 8 slices of bread)

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in chicken, lower heat to a simmer, and let cook for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from water, let cool, and then dice.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, seasonings, and lime juice. Stir well.

3. Fold in the apples, nuts, and chicken (and raisins/cranberries if using) into the mayonnaise mixture. Gently stir until evenly coated.  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.

4. Place 1/4th of the chicken salad on 2 lettuce leaves and wrap and eat! (Or place 1/4th of the mixture between 2 slices of bread with a leaf of lettuce for crunch).

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size: 1/4th of Mixture

Calories: 336

Fat: 19

Carbs: 11

Protein: 30