Tropical Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is one of those dishes that can be made a million different ways.  I've blogged about my basic chicken salad recipe before.  It's one of my favorite lunches.  When I have leftover chicken, I usually make some sort of chicken salad out of it.  I recently made Pineapple Teriyaki Grilled Chicken, with grilled pineapple rings.  Yum!  So, of course, when I had one piece left over, I had to make a salad.  This one was a winner!  It's my new favorite.

First I'll tell you how I made the grilled chicken.  You will definitely want to make extra so you can make the chicken salad (Am I overselling this?  I don't think so).

PINEAPPLE TERIYAKI GRILLED CHICKEN

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 small can pineapple rings
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 TBS Canola oil
1 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp seasoned salt

Drain and reserve juice from pineapple.  Dry the pineapple rings.  Set aside.  Add reserved juice to a bowl or large measuring cup.  Whisk in soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger and seasoned salt.  Place chicken in a large zip bag and add marinade.  Place the bag on a plate (in case it leaks) and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Take out of the fridge and let sit on the counter for 20 minutes.  Never put ice cold meat on the grill!  It will seize up and get tough.

Grill on medium heat about 6 minutes per side.  Grill dried pineapple 1-2 minutes per side.  Serve pineapple on t

If it's too cold where you live to grill right now, you can make this on a grill pan or in a cast iron skillet.

Sorry I don't have a photo.  It got erased somehow.  I will add one the next time I make this, which will be soon.  Yeah, it's yummy.

Now, here's how I make the chicken salad:

TROPICAL CHICKEN SALAD

1 leftover grilled chicken breast, cubed
1 leftover pineapple ring, chopped
1 TBS finely diced onion
1 TBS finely diced red bell pepper
1 TBS roasted sunflower seed kernels
1 TBS mayonnaise
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt/pepper

Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Make sure everything is coated with the dressing.  Let sit for a while to develop the flavors.

This was even better the next day!  The sweetness of the pineapple with the saltiness of the sunflower seeds is perfect!  It's definitely my new favorite way to make chicken salad.  Did I say that already?  Oh well.  Give this one a try, you'll love it.