Chicken Salad for a Hot Summer Day

I love summer for the obvious reason.  I don’t have to work.  I can for the most part do whatever I want to whenever I want to.  Who would not love this? It’s a great perk for the teaching profession!    Teachers are so busy during the year it is not so easy to do many big projects around the  house.  So every teacher that I know has a to do list just for the summer.   And I am one of them.    This summer my list is short.   I have two that I would like to have accomplished before school starts August 1.  We have lived in our new home for six years and I cannot believe how much I have accumulated in that time.  My pantry and my closet need a complete over haul.  Those two projects are at the top of my list.  Okay, let’s see what’s cooking in my house on the lazy hazy days of summer!

This is my favorite Chicken Salad for a hot summer day.  I first had this in my early days of teaching when we had mother-daughter banquets for over two hundred and we prepared all the food.  This was a big hit.  I still use it today.  It is easy, versatile and so good.

I like using a whole chicken because it is less costly and is more flavorful.  Put the chicken in a large saucepan with a couple of carrots, two stalks of celery and a medium onion.  Season with salt and pepper and add parsley.  Cover with water bring to a boil then simmer for about an hour.

Here is is after an hour of simmering.

The chicken will almost fall off the bone.  Let it cool.  Take it off the bone and chop.  This is not just for chicken salad.  Any recipe that calls for cooked chicken it will be perfect!

Add finely chopped celery.  I usually use 2-3 stalks.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon on the chicken.  Add mayonnaise a tablespoon at the time.  Since lemon juice is added you will not need as much mayo.  Then season with salt and pepper.

Chicken Salad

Serves 8-10 

• Whole Chicken
• 2 carrots roughly chopped
• 2 stalks celery roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion roughly chopped
• parsley
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 stalks of celery finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Mayonnaise
• Seasoned salt

1. Place whole chicken in a large saucepan.
2. Stuff  some of the chopped carrots, celery, and onion in the cavity of the chicken.
3. Place the rest of chopped carrots, celery, and onion around the chicken.
4. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.  Sometimes I use Paula Deen’s Silly Salt.
5. Cover chicken with parsley.
6. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
7. Turn down to simmer and cook for about an hour or until the chicken legs and wings fall off.
8. Take the chicken out of the broth to cool.
9. Discard the skin and bones.
10. Chop chicken.
11. Add finely chopped celery, the juice of 1 lemon,  and mayonnaise a tablespoon at a time.  I’ve found that when using lemon juice that the amount of mayonnaise can be reduced.
12. Salt and pepper to taste.
13. Enjoy!