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.

Chicken and yogurt salad

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.

December 3, 2008  Print This Post   
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Comments

8 Responses to “Chicken, pesto and yogurt salad”
  1. Nikita says:
    December 3, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    For chicken macaroni salad, I’ve successfully replaced the chicken with canned tuna flakes. Do you think it will also work for this recipe? :-)

    Reply
  2. Connie says:
    December 3, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    Yes, I’m sure it will, just break up the tuna into large chunks so the salad doesn’t get mushy. Sarap din yun, tuna.

    Reply
  3. beng says:
    December 3, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    interesting flavors! i might try cashew with this, not a fan of almonds e.

    Reply
  4. Connie says:
    December 4, 2008 at 8:54 am

    Even pili nuts work. Walnuts too. :)

    Reply
  5. Jennifer says:
    December 4, 2008 at 9:48 am

    This recipe sounds delicious. I’ve been thinking of a new side dish to try for an annual Christmas party and this is perfect. Thanks

    Reply
  6. Andrew says:
    December 15, 2008 at 4:40 am

    My grandmother used to do something similar. She used to serve it worm and it had a yogurt sauce on top.

    Reply
  7. Nida says:
    December 17, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    Hi Connie, I’m including this on my Christmas recipes, but how do you make the “pesto” or where can i buy it? I don’t know what pesto is made of. Thanks

    Nida from New York

    Reply
  8. Connie says:
    December 17, 2008 at 10:18 pm

    Nida, if you’re in New York, there must be hundreds of places there selling pesto in a jar. But you can make your own. Check the link in the entry.

    Reply
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