Pineapple Curry Chicken Salad; and How I Develop New Recipes

I have never claimed to be a real chef, nor do I have the credentials to really say I know what I'm doing when I have an adventure in the kitchen. Mostly, I just sort of channel lots of enthusiasm toward whatever my end goal might be (dinner, normally) and hope for the best.

But anytime I want to make a new dish, or add some Hungry Sam flair to a food I already like to eat, I find that a little forethought and a general strategy helps. I follow three steps whenever I develop a new-to-me recipe:

1. I pick a general type of dish.
2. I think about similar foods I've cooked before.
3. I think about similar foods I've eaten before.

That's it! So easy -- easy, because if you don't feel your cooking experience is sufficient, you can let your eating experience fill in the gaps. You can do this. Trust me. 

Today's dish follows just this approach: Pineapple Curry Chicken Salad!

This, of course, is the end goal. We'll get here. Strategy, more pics, and the recipe after the jump!

Let's dive right in. To work up my chicken salad without an existing recipe, I followed these three easy steps.

First, I decided I wanted chicken salad, both to finish off a giant chicken breast leftover from when my buddy Ben and I made coq au vin, as well as to start chipping away at the ridiculous number of chicken breasts I have in my freezer. (I buy white meat chicken and ground turkey whenever there are sales, which is often, so my freezer is an odd, poultry-laden place.)

Second, I thought about the chicken salads of the past. From my previous cooking experiences, I know that a) I like some red onion for crunch and spicy bite, b) I like fruit for sweetness and bulk, and c) I can't go wrong with curry in the dressing.

Third, I thought back to all the awesome food I've eaten in my years as an...eater. Some months ago at an Asian-fusion restaurant, I tried a pineapple curry stir fry that was delightful -- the sweet, acidic fruit played a great counterpoint to the rich spiciness of the yellow curry. I also know from numerous chicken salad eating experiences that an apple makes for nice textural variety, and parsley provides a little refreshing bitterness.

 Et voila! The rest of the equation was just determining quantities. This was as easy as Googling a few chicken salad recipes to get a ballpark idea of the dressing-to-chicken ratio. For everything else (the fruit and spices), I based quantities on extensive taste-testing. The fact is that unless you're baking, you have pretty significant leeway in terms of your quanitities.

So without any more rambling, here's the recipe for my pineapple curry chicken salad!!

What You Need:

• Two and a half pounds chicken breast, cut into evenly sized cutlets.
• Three-quarters of a cup of light mayonnaise. You can substitute full fat greek yogurt for half the mayo, if you'd like.
  
• Half of a red onion, minced.
• Three teaspoons of curry powder. I went with a basic yellow curry, but there's nothing stopping you from using other curry blends.
• Two tablespoons of whole-grain mustard.
• Half of a teaspoon of ground ginger.
• Half of a teaspoon of turmeric.
• Half of a large pineapple, core removed, diced.
• Half of an apple, diced.
• One large bunch of grapes, stems removed, halved.
• Parsley, chopped, for garnish.
  
• Mixed greens for serving.

What to Do: 

1. Poach the chicken in simmering water until done, about ten minutes if thawed. For chicken salad, don't worry about adding vegetables or spices to the water; the chicken salad dressing will take care of imbuing the otherwise boring chicken with flavor. (Go here for a decent tutorial on poaching chicken.) Allow the chicken to cool, then shred it into bite-sized pieces.
2. Whisk the mayo, red onion, curry, mustard, ginger, and turmeric together. Season with salt and pepper. Taste, adjust spices until you like it.
   
3. Combine the mayo mixture with the chopped fruit, then stir in the shredded chicken. 
4. Serve over mixed greens, topped with parsley.

Notes: Total prep time is about 40 minutes. Serves 6-8 depending on how hungry they are. Keeps well for four days. This general model works for any number of variations on chicken salad -- just swap out spices or fruits to create a totally different version. Also, this dish only improves with time in the fridge.

The final effect once more!

Enjoy, and stay Hungry, my friends!