Curried chicken salad

Chicken salad is basically the Jan Brady of sandwiches.

The forgotten middle child...

Never the star item on a sandwich shop menu.

Usually buried somewhere down in the menu, between the egg salad and chopped liver.

Ask a group of people what their favorite sandwich is, zero of them will say chicken salad sandwich.

Can you blame them?

It's not that it tastes bad, it's just kinda forgettable the way it's usually made.

To me, it tastes like a cry for help.

"Please, Chef," chicken salad calls out to me.

"I want to be fun and popular like the the buffalo chicken ranch... Give me a new look. I want someone to finally notice me!"

"I'll see what I can do," I reply.

Where to start?

A few spices would go a long way.  (I like toasted Madras curry powder.)

And how about something sweet and tangy?

Chopped pickled red onions will do the trick.

And since we like to emphasize protein here at SIMPL, we're ditching the bread so chicken salad gets all the spotlight for itself.

Paired with some delightful spiced carrots ribbons with jicama and chile oil, this chicken salad finally gets the glow-up it needs.

This carrot salad is different than any carrots you've eaten before, for a few reasons.

• They're shaved using a vegetable peeler

• The natural carrot flavor is concentrated

• It’s sweet, salty, spicy, and crunchy all at once

By tossing with brown sugar and salt, the natural carrot juices are extracted and manually squeezed out.

The resulting carrot ribbons have an enhanced flavor, ready to absorb the sizzling aromatic chile oil that I toss them with.

I've used this same moisture extracting technique in countless recipes to concentrate the natural flavors of watery vegetables like:

• zucchini and yellow squash

• cucumbers

• cabbage

• onions

It’s an easy, no-cook method for transforming sliced vegetables into a blank canvas for bold flavors.

These delicious carrot ribbons are tossed with chopped peanuts, lime juice, cilantro leaves, and sliced jicama round out this colorful side.

It's a perfect complement to this ugly duckling of a dish

(That just turned into a swan.)

Full recipe:

Curried chicken salad with spiced carrot ribbons and chile oil ⬇️ 

Upgrade your subscription for full access.