Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Entree

This easy healthy chicken salad recipe with pecans and cranberries takes just minutes to whip up and makes the perfect entree, appetizer, or snack. It’s gluten free and dairy free too. Jump to Recipe

One of the things that comes along with moving is restocking the pantry. Of course, I hauled over a cooler of snacks the very first day we had keys to the house, but since we couldn’t actually move in for a few weeks after that, I impatiently waited to do a full re-stock.

We didn’t move that far, but I’m still learning the area and what’s closest to us. First up: grocery stores.

The prices at the first one I checked out were pleasantly surprising, especially the produce section, and though not super extensive, I was impressed with the gluten-free/allergy-friendly sections. I saw one right off the bat when we walked in the door and found another mid-way through our journey. As much as I like seeing gluten-free options on the shelves right along side everything else, it’s nice and convenient to be able to go to one section and grab and go instead of hunting.

Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe with pecans and cranberries

Food Lion also has a new online recipe portal that was helpful for coming up with ideas for some meals to cook in our first week in our new home. I’m used to having staples in the kitchen, so it was a good reminder of what I needed to toss in the cart for this first big shopping trip. The portal is easy to navigate, user-friendly, and has a good variety of ideas. I jotted down some gluten-free cinnamon rolls, paleo zucchini muffins, and pesto pizza rolls for the husband.

I’ve also contributed to the recipe portal with one of my favorite grocery store deli counter inspired options: cranberry pecan chicken salad.

Healthy Chicken Salad Recipe with Pecans and Cranberries {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}

healthy chicken salad recipe with nuts
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Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

This cranberry pecan chicken salad recipe takes just minutes to whip up and makes the perfect entree, appetizer, or snack. It's gluten free and dairy free too.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1 rotisserie chicken shredded
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 T minced parsley
  • 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine mayonnaise, honey, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
  2. Combine chicken, cranberries, pecans, celery, and parsley.
  3. Mix in mayo mixture.
  4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Healthy chicken salad recipe - gluten free dairy free

I love using rotisserie chickens because they’re already cooked and ready to go, plus they have a ton of flavor, but feel free to use any kind of chicken you have.

Rotisserie chicken salad recipe

This healthy chicken salad recipe is one of my favorite easy recipes for the whole family, especially because it’s on of the few “normal” entrees my three year old eats without complaining. The secret to all things toddler food: Craisins. Shh don’t tell.



Cranberry pecan chicken salad recipe - gluten free dairy free

So next time you’re looking for an easy chicken salad recipe, try this. I like making a big batch at the beginning of the week and snacking on it for a few days. We use it as a sandwich filler, an appetizer served with tortilla chips, and a green salad topper, although most of the time we eat it right out of the bowl with a fork.

 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

 

Click here for more Gluten Free Dairy Free Recipes that won’t leave you trapped in the kitchen for hours or hunting down a million bizarre ingredients.

Kanella

Restaurants, Travel

Before the earthquake so rudely interrupted us, I was busy recapping my Philly weekend at HLS.

So far we’ve eaten at Farmicia and the Pumpkin Market, and now it’s time for the actual conference day…

From early morning to afternoon we hopped from session to session about writing better {and legal!} recipes, dealing with negativity, monetization, and more. In between, of course, was lots of food.

healthy living summit blog conference

{I miss you Jen!!}

Lunch was the highlight of the meals: greens, vegan sandwiches loaded on rich Great Harvest bread, and the most delicious quinoa chickpea salad.

salad and sandwiches

The food tables were arranged with sandwiches on both ends and salad in the middle- I picked up my sandwiches and turned around and realized the salad line was only going one direction, and it was a loooong line.

I was starving so I took my plate to the table and mentioned I was too hungry to wait, I’d just get my salad later. Then I walked away to grab a drink. When I came back, salad had magically appeared on my plate. One of the servers overheard me and brought me salad- so sweet!

chickpea quinoa salad

vegan lunch at conference

We had a late dinner reservation, so we took some time after the conference to do a little Philly exploring. I finally got to see the Reading Terminal Market in the day time. {It’s where the cocktail party was.}

reading terminal market philadelphiasarah and jen sightseeing

It was full of every vendor you could imagine- ice cream, flowers, fish, bread, etc.

reading terminal market vendors

We played tourists for a little longer, then started off on our walk towards Kanella, a local Greek restaurant.

kanella greek restaurant philly

It was cute and cozy and we were seated immediately.

jen allie and mekanella dining companions

While the food was delicious, it was an interesting dining experience. See, with the exception of hummus and feta, I really don’t like Greek food. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives top my most-hated-foods list. But I wanted to branch out and try something new; plus I loved the company.

When it came time to order, I asked for a delicious veggie and apricot topped flatbread without the tapenade {read olives!}. Not an atypical request by most standards. The answer? No, I could not have the flatbread without the olives.

kanella dinner menu

I forget what I asked for next, but it was a similar response. I was immediately flustered and overwhelmed and had no idea what to order. We finally found a solution- the lamb and arugula topped hummus without the lamb.

So I essentially had bread, hummus, and pita for dinner. But it was above average hummus- rich with lemon and tahini, and I loved arugula added to the mix. The dip for the bread was unique and satisfying as well- a thin tahini-type dip.

bread with tahini dipping saucehummus with arugula and pita

{Photo courtesy of Allie after some battery-camera-lens-swapping; her battery died and I didn’t have the right lens with me.}

Interestingly enough, we were told the chef doesn’t allow photographs of his food. Of course by then we’d already finished with the picture-taking. Winking smile

 

Do you like Greek food? You can add grape leaves to the list of things I don’t like, although I don’t encounter those in my day to day life.Winking smile

 

Find out how my first midwife appointment went on tiny sneakers. Hint: it’s not what you think.

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