What Exactly Is That Gluten-y Goodness?

I work in the food industry, and I go to school for food.  I'm around all sorts of people with all sorts of ideas about what foods are good for humans, what foods are bad, and what foods everyone should or shouldn't be eating.  Recently, the gluten-free craze has been running rampant in America.  Where before, the phrase "gluten-free" was rarely seen, now, there are entire sections of the supermarket filled with highly processed but gluten-free foods.  While that's great for people with a diagnosed gluten intolerance, celiac's disease, or true wheat, barley, or rye allergies, the number of people who are insisting on gluten-free foods is skyrocketing way faster than those discovering a true intolerance.  



It's been driving me more and more and more crazy that there are people who insist that they are gluten-free, yet can't say definitively what gluten is.  KNOW YOUR BODY; KNOW YOUR INTOLERANCES.  (And for goodness sake, don't tell me you don't eat gluten "for health reasons" unless you actually have a real, medical reason to not eat it.) 

This Is How I Cook: Curry Chicken Salad Edition

So.  Cooking.  Some people like it, some people hate it.  I cook for a living every day, so honestly, I don't get super excited about making dinner for myself all the time…But when I do, I don't use recipes, or really measure anything.  Cooking for me means throwing things in a bowl/pot/pan/what have you, and mixing, tasting, adding, repeating, repeating, repeating.

Today, I was toddling around in the Whole Foods, and the idea of curry chicken salad got into my brain.  All I wanted, nay needed, was some curry chicken salad.  So I went over to the deli case: $10.99/lb.  Ugh.  I'm sorry, but that's absurd.

So I turned myself around and picked up a rotisserie chicken (ok, truth: I got two, but only because they were buy one get one half price, haha).  I could definitely take 20 minutes or so to pick a chicken, and save all that money on pre made chicken salad that would cost too much and be gone too soon.

Are you craving curry chicken salad yet??

Make it.  Bethy-style.

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken, picked clean, and in smallish pieces
Mayo
Curry powder
Turmeric
Celery
Sliced Almonds
Raisins
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:
(this is where it gets pretty Thug Kitchen-esque)  What?!?  You don't know what Thug Kitchen is??  Oh dear me, that is sad if you don't.  This is perhaps the most amazing website/organization out there.  Love it.  And I think if all people listened to TK's instructions on life, the world would be a better place.  But I digress…

Put your chicken meat in a medium size bowl.  Add enough mayo to it so it mixes well.  Chop some celery into pieces that are as big as you want them (I mean, generally smallish is better in this case, but you do you…).  Add curry powder, turmeric, salt, and pepper to taste.  (Generally this means add a little and then taste it.  And then add some more and then taste it again, and so on and so forth).  Add the raisins and almonds.  I'm not going to tell you how much to add.  I don't know what you like, and I'm not going to assume that you'll like what I like.  So add a little, and then see if you feel moved by the spirit to add some more.

When the chicken salad seems right (and your tastes are super delicious!), it's right.  Eat it.  On a sandwich, or on a cracker, or, as it usually happens in my kitchen, straight off a spoon.  Yum.

Straight up modeling with the chicken salad :)

TL;DR
Put chicken, mayo, curry, turmeric, salt, pepper, celery, raisins, and almonds in a bowl.  Mix.  Eat.  Never pay $10.99/lb. for curry chicken salad again.

-Bethy