Chicken Salad with Spinach and Quinoa

During our Poconos trip last weekend, our dear friend Susan set out lunch for us on Thursday afternoon—and it was a combo we had never considered. She had some fresh baby spinach; a bowl of plain, cold quinoa; and some simple chicken salad. Toss it all together on a plate and you have a surprisingly tasty (and pretty healthy!) meal.

While feasting on it, Michael and I were already talking about recreating it at home so we could take it for lunches at work. We’re always looking for easy, healthy, tasty lunch ideas—and I am SO OVER cold cuts at this point.

We decided this morning to whip up a batch of chicken salad and a pot of quinoa. We ate it for dinner tonight, which was great since it is hot and muggy today and it was nice to have something a little lighter. And I’m already looking forward to eating this again for lunches this week!

Now, this isn’t so much a recipe as it is an idea, because I have NO IDEA how much of each ingredient I put into our chicken salad. I simply sprinkled in a bunch of stuff, stirred, tasted, sprinkled in more, stirred, tasted. I mean, it was a really tough process, what with all that tasting… ;) I’ve never actually made chicken salad because I’m typically not a fan of it—I kind of hate mayo—but with this, we’re using just enough to moisten the chicken mixture. It’s not at all the globs of mayo you’ll find in chicken salads at a deli or restaurant. And with the spices added in, it doesn’t taste much like mayo at all. So if you’re like me and think you don’t like chicken salad? Give this one a try; you might be surprised.

Based on my (obviously very limited) experience making chicken salad, I think it’s kind of hard to screw it up. There are so many flavor combinations, too, so play around with what you have and what you like.

Chicken Salad with Spinach and Quinoa

Ingredients:
– 1-2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
– Mayonnaise
– Dried cranberries
– Sliced/shaved almonds
– Curry powder
– Cilantro (dried or fresh)
– Mustard seed
– Salt and pepper
– Quinoa
– Chicken broth (optional)
– Baby spinach

Directions:
1. To make the chicken salad, combine ingredients (chicken through salt and pepper) and stir well. Add more spices and mayonnaise to taste.

2. Cook quinoa according to package directions, using chicken broth or water.

3. Once quinoa is cooked through, you can assemble and serve the meal immediately, or refrigerate and serve it cold at a later time. To serve, layer baby spinach, quinoa, and chicken salad on your plate. Enjoy!