Chicken, pesto and yogurt salad

For some reason, chicken and macaroni salad is a fixture in the Filipino Christmas and New Year menu. It’s one of the side dishes that I’m planning on serving for the New Year family reunion because I feel it should go well with roast stuffed turkey and the grilled meat that’s already in the list. But I’m serving my chicken and macaroni salad with a twist this time.

We’re cutting down on the fat by using less mayonnaise and adding fruit-flavored yogurt instead. And this salad is more aromatic with the inclusion of lemon juice and rind. For a variety in texture, it has seedless grapes and toasted almonds. Finally, for an unexpected kick, a small amount of pesto. I did a dry run of the recipe about a month ago and the result was surprisingly good.

If you want to cut down even more on the fat, omit the bacon bits.

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients

125 g. of uncooked pasta
1-1/2 to 2 c. of thinly sliced cooked chicken or turkey meat
3 tbsps. of pesto (home-made, if possible)
2 celery stalks
1 carrot
20 seedless grapes
2 tbsps. of toasted bacon bits
3/4 c. of fruit-flavored yogurt (I recommend mango)
1/3 to 1/2 c. of mayonnaise
2 tbsps. of lemon juice
grated rind of one lemon
salt
pepper
toasted sliced almonds for garnish (optional)
grated Parmesan cheese

Make the salad

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

Toss together the chicken and pesto.

Cut the celery stalks into one-fourth inch slices.

Peel the carrot and cut into matchsticks.

Cut the grapes into halves.

Place everything in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt at this point; you can always add more later. Remember that the pesto and bacon bits already contain salt. Toss until blended. Place is a covered container and chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

To serve, sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds and Parmesan cheese. Toasted bread brushed with pesto is a good accompaniment.

You might want to try these too!

1. Chicken and mushrooms pasta
2. Pasta with bacon and pesto
3. Chicken adobo with lemongrass
4. Farfalle (bow-tie pasta) with pesto, and smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches
5. Chicken and potatoes with creamy cheese sauce
6. Fusilli with anchovies and baby asparagus
7. Salmon and pesto spaghetti
8. Cucumber salad with roasted pili nuts
9. Chicken lollipops, fried Southern style
10. Sotanghon (vermicelli), chicken and mushroom soup

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