What's for Dinner?

Guacamole Chicken Salad

A healthier take on the traditional mayonnaise-laden dish

-Julie Ryan Evans

I love chicken salad, but it's typically drenched in way too much, way unhealthy mayonnaise. This recipe from the California Walnut Board replaces the mayonnaise with avocado, reducing the saturated fat and spicing up the flavor.

Ingredients:

2 avocados, halved, pitted and peeled
3 Tablespoons lime juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
4 cups diced, cooked chicken breast meat*
1 cup toasted, chopped California walnuts
1 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped celery (about 3 ribs)
3 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded and chopped
6 (or more, depending on size) whole leaves of butter lettuce or radicchio

*Note: Use home-cooked roasted or poached chicken, or deli-roasted chicken.

Directions:

Put the avocado in a large bowl and mash it with a fork until almost smooth. Stir in the lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper. Add the chicken, walnuts, onion, celery and tomatoes, and stir to coat with the avocado. To serve, place a leaf or two of lettuce on each plate, and mound the salad in the center.

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