Recipe- Tangy Chicken Salad

Here's the deets on how to make my favorite lunch- chicken salad with paleo-friendly (ie, non-canola) homemade mayo.

After I got friendly with fat but before I started avoiding industrial seed oils, I was in love with this stuff called Lemonaise. Now I have a homemade version that I think is even better because the oils I use now have actual flavor. A lot of paleo mayo recipes call for "light tasting" supermarket olive oils. After reading Extra Virginity, I am pretty squeamish about that. Even if it does actually contain olive oil and not seed oils(staggering amounts of fraud in the industry), it is probably a lesser grade product that has been deodorized and refined. The whole point of making my own mayo is to avoid "vegetable" and seed oils, so I've gone with a mix of avocado oil and the Artois Ranch EVOO by California Olive Ranch that is naturally a bit milder than some EVOO, but still very flavorful. It might not be for everybody, but I've grown to enjoy the olive flavor and with all the spices I add it isn't overpowering in the final mayo or final dish.


I use the process and more or less the basic recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl/ Well Fed for the base. I used a 50/50 mix of the avocado and EVOO.
1 whole egg (room temp)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup + 1 cup 50/50 blend of avocado oil and EVOO

Blend all ingredients except the last cup of oil in the blender for 20-30 seconds.
Add the rest of the oil extremely slowly.

Once I've got the basics, I tweak the spices to my liking. This time, I used-
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
pinch of cayenne pepper
another couple of squirts of lemon juice


And on to the chicken salad.
1 cup shredded chicken meat- I usually use the slow cooker chicken recipe from Nom Nom Paleo. It comes out super moist and you have all the juices to make a gravy or save for another recipe.
2 tbsp of the mayo described above
1 tbsp raw sauerkraut- I love Farmhouse Culture horseradish + leek. I really don't taste the horseradish in the final dish- it's just more tang and crunch. You can use chopped pickles instead. I hear good things about Bubbies brand.
1 celery rib, chopped
1 green apple wedge (about 1/8 of small apple), chopped
a handful of walnuts or pecans (or omit if you are geeking about about reducing Omega 6 consumption, but my philosophy is nuts are ok and I just make sure to take my fish oil)
about 1/2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
a few hits of freshly ground black pepper

It's great served with tomato wedges and/or avocado slices. I was out of both, so I just threw in some sprouts.
This actually evolved out of my tuna salad lunch. The only other difference is the tuna version doesn't have rosemary and usually has pickles.

EDIT: I recently started drizzling a bit of fig balsamic vinegar from The Olive Bar in Campbell on the chicken salad. Uh-mazing! I also wanted to throw in my tweaks to my favorite dessert- chocolate monkey from the Caveman Cuisine blog. I think I have a thing for little rituals where I assemble the same dish over and over again. Unlike the chicken salad, I have this at most once a week- preferably after my Convict Conditioning and/or Primal Blueprint Fitness (free!) bodyweight exercises. Basically, fry some sliced ripe plantain in coconut oil. Mash and add chopped unsweetened chocolate and cinnamon. I have discovered it is amazing with coconut milk or heavy cream, cocoa nibs, and if you're feeling really crazy, my new favorite treat find- Lydia's Organics Apple Grainless Cereal.