Curried Chicken & Peach Salad

Well, hello, my dears. I've been back from visiting Dad & Trevor for a week, and things seem to be getting back to normal around here, for the Ferdzy value of normal. The garden is actually under control, we had some rain yesterday (9mm! Whoo-hoo! No impact on the watering schedule) and I even cooked a couple of things. That, plus it occurs to me that I've got some varietal reports I can do means I've decided to get back in the saddle.

This dish occurred because I thawed out some chicken then went to the butchers and absent-mindedly bought more meat, so I had chicken I had to cook but could not eat that same day. Also, we bought some peaches that were wonderfully flavourful but inclined to start getting bad patches and so needed using up quickly.

You will note that I called for dried cranberries but there aren't actually any in the picture. That's because I think it really needed some, but we didn't have any, on account of I went off and left Mr. Ferdzy alone with the pantry for a week. He is not really your typical dude or I would not up with him put, but he does have his moments. I don't think he ate a single vegetable while I was gone, even though he very carefully spent all his time weeding and watering the vegetable garden. Didn't pick any either, which was even more of a problem. Apparently, "he forgot". Okay, moving on. 

I'm hard put to say how many servings this is; as usual we ate the lot, but it was all of dinner. If you make something else as well, it will go further. Also, we are pigs. There is that.

2 to 4 servings
30 minutes prep time, not including cooking the chicken

Make the Dressing:
the juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
2 to 3 teaspoons mild curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk together these ingredients and set them aside.


Make the Salad:
2 cups chicken, cooked & chopped
100 grams (scant 1/4 pound) bacon, chopped & cooked
125 grams (1/4 pound) farfalle or other small pasta shape
2 large peaches
2 large tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green beans
1 cob corn
1 green onion OR a handful of chives
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Don't forget to cook and chill the chicken in advance! Leftover chicken is fine, but I used 4 medium chicken thighs baked in advance with this idea in mind.

Chop the bacon and fry it until crisp. Drain it well and set it aside.

Put a large pot of water on to boil; salt it well. Cook the pasta until tender. While it is cooking, use the boiling water to blanch the peaches and tomatoes for 1 minute. Rinse them in cold water, peel them and chop them. Put them in a mixing bowl. Cook the corn in the pasta water for 5 minutes, then rinse it well in cold water, and cut the kernels from the cob. Add them to the mixing bowl.  Add the chopped beans to the pasta to cook for the last 5 minutes or so, and drain it with the pasta. Rinse the pasta and beans in cold water until cool, then add them to the mixing bowl.

Trim and clean the green onion or chives, and chop and add to the salad. Add the chopped almonds and cranberries. Toss with the salad dressing, and serve the salad sprinkled with the bacon bits.





Last year at this time I made Bean & Rice Salad with Dill & Feta.