Satisfying Salads (NOT the Green Kind)

Told ya I'd make up for my week of silence! Here we meet again, along with my 2 favorites of late: chicken & Greek yogurt. I'd apologize for the over use of these ingredients, but you know what? Sorry I'm NOT sorry! With such versatile staples constantly at hand, plus a little creativity, the combination is a busy girl's dream come true!

Throughout high school & almost all of college, I worked at a bagel store during the school year. Coming from a typically old-school Italian family, the bagel store experience exposed me to things I'd only seen from afar & dreamed of trying. Chicken salad was one of those in particular. (American) tuna salad was another. Our shop's versions were just so darn good! And then I learned how to make it....with ingredients like ground up stale croissants (used to give it "body") & an ENTIRE industrial-sized jug of Hellmann's mayo! No wonder they were addictively good. Anything with that much butter & fat cannot be anything less that awesome.

Craving those deli salads (but not the artery-clogging fat & cholesterol), I moseyed on into the kitchen & started playing around with ingredients I had on hand. Greek yogurt, mustard and lemon juice give these salads just the right amount of zing, and the addition of herbs like parsley & dill lends a freshness that is irresistible! Put it on low calorie wheat bread, or eat it by the cupful. But don't take my word for it...try it for yourself and tell us what YOU think!

Slimming Chicken Salad
yields 4 servings; 193 Calories/ serving; 2.2g fat/ serving

• 12-oz shredded chicken (I used left over roasted chicken)
• 1 large celery stalk, diced
• 1 large scallion, sliced thin
• 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 C nonfat, Greek yogurt, plain
• 1Tbs lemon juice
• 1tsp mustard (I used stone ground brown deli mustard)
• 1tsp chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 tsp celery salt (I recommend using pure ground celery seed & salt separately, but this is what I had on hand)
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper   
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Combine shredded (or chopped) chicken, celery, scallion, and parsley in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl combine yogurt, lemon juice, mustard, celery salt, garlic powder, dill & black pepper. Spoon dressing mixture into chicken mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.

*to make tuna salad, replace shredded chicken with 2 7oz cans of your favorite tuna.