Curried Chicken Salad with Walnuts & Cranberries and Curried Pea Dip

What we have here is my love of curry. It’s only foreign until you try it. It’s a sweet and tangy blend of spices. You can beat someone over the head with it, or you can tempt them with it. Lead them to a head turning “What is that flavor?” moment.

Garnish on this particular plating was parsley to get an herb note and lemon zest to cut into the creamy texture of each appetizer with an a bright acid note.

Also of note, the pea dip is not an original recipe. It came from one of those urban-hipster living magazines that matches article versions of the Travel Channel, HGTV, and the Food Network for today’s sassy-yuppy.

I think it just tastes very refreshing and is damn easy to pull together.

Curried Chicken Salad with Walnuts & Cranberries

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup chopped dried cranberries
• 2 diced scallions
• ¼ head chopped radicchio
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper
• 2 T curry powder
• 2 T Olive oil

1. Trim any skin and fat from the edges of the chicken.
2. Toss the chicken in the curry powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil and place in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Heat a skillet to med-high heat. Add chicken and cook through. For thick breasts, you may want to cook on each side for about 4-5 minutes then butterfly the breasts and sear off the middle to ensure doneness.
4. Allow the chicken to cool.
5. Chop the chicken into small pieces and add to a bowl with the other ingredients. Mix well and chill.

Curried Pea Dip

• 2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 3 scallions, rough chopped
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1-2 T curry powder
• Olive oil (between 3 and 6T)

1. Throw the first four ingredients into your food processor.
2. Pulse a few times.
3. Turn processor to on and drizzle oil in until desired consistency.
4. Serve with toasted pita, bagel chips, or veggies.

If you haven’t thawed the peas, start the process with a bit of water in the bowl to get things started.

Thanks to Susan for the photo of this dish.

Tags: chicken, curry, peas