Chik'n Salad (AKA: Food Heaven) Sandwiches!

First things things my friends....

Alex has been doing our bulk style shopping at Sam's Club  (i.e. dog + cat food, cat litters, nuts, delicious sandiwch wraps, etc.).

Regardless of whether I beg on my hands and knees to stick to the list so we don't go over-budget, he comes home with....

.....Well let's just not go into that unpleasantness...

PS: Good thing I'm writing this now as he's immersed in an intense Kitchen Nightmares episode ;)

Regardless, one of Alex's favorite, meat eating items is Chicken Salad that he always accidentally drops in his shopping cart comes home with a huge batch after a Sam's Club trip (note: even as a 5-year solid vegetarian, I find myself craving Chicken Salad way more than I'd like!)

After months of putting away his massive Chicken Salad as we unload groceries when he gets back from the store and watching him bite into every delicious looking morsel of Chicken Salad goodness...
I-WAS-ON-A-MISSION!

Mission: I need some "Chicken" Salad in ma' belly... ASAP... Somehow... Someway....

Thus, this recipe was born....

Quorn Chik'n Cutlets came to my rescue!

Chik'n Salad

Serves 2-3 Sandwiches
Adapted from Add a Pinch

*- 1 package/4 Quorn Chik'n cutlets

- 1/2 cup grapes, halved

- 1/2 cup celery, chopped

- 1/4 cup chopped almonds

- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise

- Dashes of salt & pepper

- Croissants (or any bread you prefer if you're eating it sandwich style!)

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-  1 teaspoon extra light mayo for the croissants

*These Quorn Chik'n Cutlets are vegetarian friendly, but not vegan as they do contain eggs

  Coach's Orders!

1.  Coat medium sized skillet with a copious amount of non-stick spray over medium-high heat.  Also spray cutlets and add dashes of salt and pepper and let cook for 10-15 minutes, flipping a bit until brown on both sides.

 2. Continue baking Chik'n for 8 minutes at 400 degrees on each side to brown and cook through.  Remove from oven and let Chik'n cutlets cool on a cutting board or whatever you have on hand.  Once cool, cut Chik'n into whatever sized cubes you prefer.

3. Plop the cooled & chopped Chik'n into a bowl and add 1/2 cup halved grapes, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1/4 cup chopped almonds and some dashes of dried dill (a little goes a long way) and give that baby a mix!

4. Last, add 1/2 cup (or more if you prefer a heavier coating) of light mayo (see below) and stir all together until deliciously covered :)

Oh my gosh, why did I not think of this sooner?!?!!?!?!

I was tempted to let it cool and marinate the flavors overnight for extra deliciousness, but once I mixed in that mayo and saw THIS:

Commence mouth-watering......

  ... No chance.... CHOW DOWN TIME!

While I was waiting for the Chik'n to cool though, I whipped up some roasted carrots for the side since we need to use ours up soon and still had a full bag of baby carrots! Thus was born:

Balsamic and Agave Glazed Carrots
Serves 2
Slightly adapted from Budget Bytes

In the line up!
- 1/2 pound baby carrots, sliced diagonally in half
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
*- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon margarine or butter

*Agave is a lower glycemic sweetener that I prefer to use in place of honey or sugar products. 


 Coach's Orders!
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice 1/2 pound baby carrots diagonally in half and place on a sprayed sheet pan.  Add the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper and get your hands in there to make sure everyone's coated up!


2. Cook carrots for 20 minutes, then stir and toss around to get them evenly coated again and cook for another 20 minutes until browned on the outside, with still a slight crunch and warm and yummy on the inside!

 3. While carrots are a cookin', mix agave nectar and balsamic together in a small bowl.  Add in margarine/butter and I just heated this baby up in the microwave until melted and stirred everything together to incorporate the margarine/butter throughout!



4.  Once you the carrots are done cookin', take em' out of the oven and drizzle with this DE-LISH glaze to serve with your sandwiches!

..... I used to HATE cooked carrots in any fashion (steamed, roasted, grilled)... No, I was a rabbit-eating kid who demand RAW, COLD & CRISP carrots... but I guess over the year's and the invention of Pinterest... AMAZINGLY GOOD recipes like this you just can't pass up!

OH.MY.GOSH. 

Do you have any idea how hard it was to take this picture before I face-planted my mouth into this mouth watering sandwich?!... VERY!

Commence chow-down time!

I added just a little extra mayo to my croissants, which really rounded out this sandwich so it wasn't overly sauced, the grapes add a nice sweetest, the celery added a much needed crunch, the dashes of dill were PERFECT in really bringing this baby home!... And yes, croissant's are definitely on the naughty list if you're watching your waist-line, but hey, it's been 5 years sans Chik'n Salad so I had to do it right folks!

Thank you to Quorn Chik'n Cutlets for makin' this gals vegetarian dreams come true!!!!!

.... and hey if my regular-chicken-salad-eating-husband liked this, how bad could a veggie version be, eh?!... And a lot healthier and PERFECT for a summer picnic or outing!

Quorn products have such a great meat-like flavor and texture which is not always found in a lot of meat alternative products so that really made this dish as heavenly as it was!  I found me a winner here! :)

Now I'm off to finish my assignment for the evening and cuddle up with my babes before he's headed off to Chicago on a business trip for the weekend :(

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