Recipe time: Chicken Salad for Lunch

One of my best friends drove up Monday for a visit, so I had to decide, what to do for lunch?

I thought soup and salad might be nice, so I found this recipe online. Before going with it, I read the comments; often other folks have made good suggestions. Based on the comments, I decided to add a bit of cayenne pepper (I didn't measure, but about 1/4 teaspoon), and I added a granny smith apple; I compensated by cutting back a little on the celery, almonds and grapes. Some readers suggested cutting back on the mayonnaise, so I did that as well. I forgot to buy fresh parsley, so I used dried.

While this salad could easily be made with chicken from a can, I got an idea from another recipe, which described how to poach chicken breasts. So I bought some boneless chicken breasts, and poached them in some chicken broth, with some dried parsley and thyme added, as well as a cut up carrot, onion and celery stalk. I saved the broth in the freezer for later.

With the chicken salad, I had some cheddar broccoli soup, which I picked up at Panera Bread. The soup was good, but pricey -- $15 for four servings. Four? More like two! As it turned out, I'd forgotten my friend can't eat broccoli, so...no problem!

Here's how I put it together. I had some boston lettuce, and I spread several pieces on the plate; then I put the chicken salad on top of that, with some sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on the side. Then I had some bacon, and some bread at the ready. My idea was that either this could be eaten as a salad, or easily turned into a sandwich. My friend and I opted for no bread. The bacon was good in the soup.

I had some leftover chicken salad that I shared with the staff, and one of them asked for the recipe, so I promised to post it here.