The Best Beach Food: How to Make Easy Chicken Waldorf Salad

My boyfriend and I were planning a day trip to Sakkonnet Vineyards in Little Compton, Rhode Island, which is right near the Atlantic Ocean, so I decided to pack a picnic lunch for us. For some reason, chicken always seems to be what I want as beach food, but I didn't have time to bake some country-style chicken and cool it overnight, and since we'd had grinders earlier that week, I didn't want to go the cold cuts route either. Then, I started thinking about chicken salad. I could easily pick it up at the grocery store, I already had bread at the house, and a couple of apples tossed in the cooler with some water bottles, and I'd have a quick lunch. Only, when I got to the grocery store and looked at the list of ingredients on the side of the chicken salad, I realized there were a whole bunch of ingredients that I did not want to be eating, like corn syrup and a bunch of preservatives I can't even pronounce. Ick! Then, I remembered the two chicken breasts in the freezer leftover from last week's fajitas and saw the grapes on sale at almost the exact same moment and I realized: Chicken Waldorf!

The original Waldorf Salad was invented by the maître d'hôtel at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1896. The original salad did not include chicken, but instead was a mixture of apples, celery, and mayonnaise. Walnuts were later added and became an intergral part of the dish, and soon, cubed or sliced chicken was added to turn the salad into an entree. You can find a lot of different variations of the dish online, but here's the Chicken Waldorf recipe I came up with that I love. I will note that I never measure anything, unless I'm baking, so measurements are approximate and should be altered to taste.

Ingredients:

2 cups diced cooked chicken -- one Web site I read suggested that you poach the chicken breasts in Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea, which I didn't try... yet. It sounds delicious. If you are in a hurry, like I always am, cut the chicken with kitchen shears before you cook it, and it will cook much faster for you. If you are cooking the chicken and immediately making the salad, like I did, put the diced chicken on a plate and place in the freezer for a few minutes until the chicken is cool to the touch.

2 cups diced apple - any kind you have on hand, though I recommend that you not use Golden Delicious or Granny Smith. I used two Fuji apples, but Red Delicious or Gala apples would also be great. You want apples that aren't too hard or too soft, and you also want one that's not too tart, though your taste may vary. You can peel the apples if you want, but I didn't bother.

1 cup thinnly sliced celery

1 cup halved, seedless grapes

1 cup mayonnaise

2 Tablespoon sour cream

2 Tablespoon mustard - I used brown mustard, but use whatever kind you have

3 Tablespoon sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in one large bowl and use a rubber spatula to stir gently until mixed. You might want to start with half the mayonnaise and add more as needed, to taste. Before you are finished mixing, crack some fresh black pepper on the top, to taste, and add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix well and refrigerate for at least 1/2 an hour before serving. If you are a fan of walnuts, you can omit one of the apples and add 1/2 cup of walnuts instead. My boyfriend doesn't like nuts, so I left them out. The extra apple gave the salad a great crunch.

If you are packing this for a picnic or for a school lunch, I recommend packing the salad in its own little container and packing the bread separately. This chicken salad is also delicious served with any kind of cracker, particularly, Triskets. If you are dieting, you can certainly substitute fat-free mayo, low-fat sour cream, or sugar substitute, but if you are going to be swimming and walking or playing frisbee at the beach anyway, why not indulge yourself with the high-fat and delicious real thing? Enjoy!