Chicken Salad

With summer finally here, now is the time for grilling outside and having barbecues with friends.  A recipe that is great for a barbecue is my Aunt Loretta’s chicken salad.  We just had a family party last weekend and this was a hit!  It really is my favorite and I wanted to share it with you! 

Ingredients:

• 3 Chicken Breast (approx. 2 ¾ lbs total) fat removed and rinsed
• 2 Large Celery Stalks, chopped
• 1 Small Onion – preferably white, chopped
• 4 oz. slivered blanched almonds (half of an 8 oz. bag) (you can substitute sliced if you can’t find slivered)
• ½ lb of green grapes, cut in half or quarters depending on how large they are
• 1 cup of Mayonnaise (or to your taste)**
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Season the chicken breasts with onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. 
3. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until no longer pink.  Let cool
4. In the meantime, toast almonds in a frying pan on medium to low heat until lightly browned, tossing often.  Be careful as they can burn quickly.
5. Once chicken is cool, cut into bite size pieces.  Add celery, onion, almonds, salt and pepper and mix. 
6. Add mayo starting with a half cup and add more as needed.
7. Arrange in serving bowl and decorate with grape halves around the border.

Nutritional Information (serves 10):  388 calories, 18.4 g fat, 12.6g carbohydrates, 1.9g fiber, 5.5g sugar, 41.5g protein

Weight Watchers Points per serving: 10 points plus

 **If you use reduced fat mayo instead, the nutritional info is: 332 calories, 13.3g fat, 9.8g carbohydrates, 1.9g fiber, 4.0 sugars, 41.2g protein.  The weight watchers points would be: 8 points plus