Caroline's Chicken Salad

My favorite chicken salad by far is at Hammock Bay in Naples, FL.  It has grapes and pecans, and is always one of my favorite lunch spots when we go to Marco.  A couple of years ago, I realized that I could totally make this chicken salad on my own... the result of my experiments, one of my favorite lunches.  Also, I personally think mine tastes better than Hammock Bay's salad too!  I'm super picky about chicken salad, but in my opinion, this is one of the best ones.  Here's how I make Caroline's Chicken Salad.

You need:

• Chicken (2-3 cups - depending on how much you want to make)
• 1 celery heart, diced
• 1 cup of red grapes - sliced in half
• 1 cup of pecans
• 1 apple, diced into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise - I use the olive oil kind

Depending on what kind of chicken you use, you can dice it, shred it, or just open up a package of Tyson grilled chicken strips!    My favorite way is to put 2-3 chicken breasts in a slow cooker with a container (32 oz) of chicken broth.  I add a little salt and cook it on low all day.  Before I take it out, I shred the chicken and let it sit in the broth for another 1/2 hour.   Then I remove the yummy shredded chicken and it's ready for my chicken salad!  Lila also is trying it as a snack because it is so soft and juicy.

Combine chicken, celery, red grapes, and apples and mix together in a large bowl or container.   I usually make mine in a container with a lid so I can shake it up as I'm making it.

Next, after you mix it up, add the pecans.

After you add the pecans, mix or shake it up!  Then add the mayo.  I'm not a huge fan of mayonnaise, so I use the least amount possible.   You could obviously add more or less depending on your chicken salad.

Mix in your mayonnaise.  Then mix it or shake it up!

Finally, it's time to enjoy!  I usually like to eat mine with some crackers or some bread of some sort.  This is an easy recipe to make for lunch, or to take for lunch too!

With anything, feel free to try to add new things to your chicken salad or omit things you may not like.  If Honey Crisp apples are in season, I will add double the amount of apples.  I've also been wondering if adding mandarin oranges would change how much I love this chicken salad... I'll just have to test it out!   I hope you like it!