Grand Times

I’ve enjoyed a few lovely “thank you” emails from the knitters who came to lunch at the lake. They did most of the work since everyone brought something to add to the table. It was fun for me to get the tables ready. We are lucky that the extra serving tables and beverage containers are stored just steps away from the porch. That makes it easy when I’m not having to haul them up from the basement or in from the barn. 

Because this was a ladies lunch, I bought flowers at the grocery store and cut the stems to put into some Mason jar cups that we had at the lake. That’s a fancy as I got. But the flowers paired with bright napkins made a pretty table. 

Yes, we really did knit. It’s fun to have a gathering of knitters because there is always a knitter with a problem. And there is always another knitter with a solution. That’s how we’ve all learned to be better knitters.

I promised to share the recipes from our day. Here is another new one. (New to me, at least.) I made my usual chicken salad that we love, and then remembered that one knitter has a serious allergy to eggs—which means no mayonnaise for her. So I found a simple mayo-free recipe and whipped up a second batch of chicken salad so that she could have some. And everyone loved this one, too.

This one was different from my standard but just as delicious! And I don’t say that lightly. We Southerners are serious about our chicken salad. It didn’t have the yogurt taste that I thought it might. I think the honey and the sweetness of the grapes balanced the tartness of the yogurt. And the almonds, celery and grapes gsve a nice mix of textures. I’ll be making this one again for sure.

GREEK YOGURT CHICKEN SALAD

3 cups diced cooked chicken breast (about 3 medium boneless, skinless breasts)

1-1/2 cups red seedless grapes, halved

3 medium celery stalks, diced

3 or 4 green onions, thinly sliced 

1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

1 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons fat-free milk

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon Kosher salt*

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Put chicken, grapes, celery, green onions, and almonds in a large bowl. 

In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, honey, salt and pepper. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Pour dressing over chicken and toss to coat. Refrigerate from 2 hours to overnight to let flavors blend.

Makes about 5-1/2 cups

I made this because it was egg free. But as I was mixing it, I realized that most of the ingredients are zero points on the new Weight Watchers plan. I plugged everything in to the recipe creator on Weight Watchers and if you use this recipe to serve five or six people, each serving has 2 Smart Points. For 8 servings from this recipe,  it’s 1 Smart Point. That’s kind of amazing.

Shortcut: I had a bag of toasted almond salad topping in my pantry. Just thinly sliced toasted almonds. No seasoning beyond salt. I used that instead of toasting slivered almonds. It was a good substitute.