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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Peach Chicken Salad with Peach Basil Dressing-Improv Challenge


One of the main things I like about the Improv Challenge which Kristen from Frugal Antic of a Harried Homemaker  hosts is that it makes me think about ingredient combinations that I might not have thought of myself.

This month’s challenge is to use peaches and an herb.  Every time that I thought about what herb to use, a little voice in my head kept saying, “basil, basil, basil,” much like that duck in the Aflac commercial.

I decided that basil it was and went looking for recipe ideas.  I found a salad dressing recipe at food.com that used a peach and basil that I knew I could adapt to what I had in mind.  The poster there used fresh basil, and I would highly recommend that.  I had to use dried basil and felt that it did not quite give me the flavor I was looking for.

For the salad part, I chose to use peaches, chicken, green onions, celery and red pepper.  I sprinkled the peaches with lemon juice and the salad kept well for several days.  To make the salad a little more special, I added some Easy Glazed Walnut Halves for garnish.

This was a really fun Improv Challenge to do.  If you would like to join in next month, you can find all the details on Kristen’s Improv page.

Peach Chicken Salad with Peach Basil Dressing
3 ripe peaches
2 T. lemon juice
1T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 T. chopped fresh basil or 1 1/2 t. dried
2 1/2 T. vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. celery seed
2 t. sugar or to taste
1/8 t. coarse ground pepper
1/3 c. mayonnaise
3 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onion
1/2 c. diced red pepper
2 c. chopped cooked chicken breast
1 recipe Easy Glazed Walnut Halves (you won’t need them all for this recipe, eat the leftovers for a snack)
Iceberg lettuce leaves for serving

Peel peaches and chop two of them into a medium mixing bowl.  Pour lemon juice over peaches, mix well and set aside.  Peel and slice remaining peach into a blender or food chopper.  Add olive oil, basil, vinegar, salt, celery seed and sugar and blend until smooth.  Add mayonnaise and blend until well mixed.  Add celery, green onion, red pepper and chicken to the peaches in the medium bowl and mix well.  Add prepared dressing and mix until salad ingredients are very well coated.  Chill at least several hours to blend flavors.  Serve in iceberg lettuce leaves and garnish with Easy Glazed Walnut Halves.  Makes 4 servings.

To see what other Improv bloggers chose to do with peaches and herbs, check out the links below.

Linking to these great parties:

11 comments:

  1. I think the majority of us had that little voice saying "basil, basil, basil" in our heads this month. Your salad sounds superb, especially with those walnuts added in.

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  2. Oh what a fabulous chicken salad! I think pairing peaches and chicken is such a great combo. Looking forward to trying this one. And I'm with Kristen...extra walnuts for me!

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  3. Oh yum! I love chicken salad and will definitely have to try this unique version soon!

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  4. Sounds like a wonderful summer salad-very tasty I'm sure:@)

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  5. Cracking up over the Aflac/Basil chant :) This looks divine - gonna try it with the pecans in my pantry!

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  6. I found this month's Improv to be a true challenge. I'd NEVER thought to combine peaches with any sort of herb. I love the peach and basil salad dressing that you've come up with! Very creative!

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  7. This salad looks great, perfect for summer. Those glazed walnuts look awesome!

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  8. What a delicious twist to chicken salad.
    Mimi

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  9. This chicken salad looks ridiculously good!! Wow!

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  10. We have been getting the most divine peaches. I can't wait to try them in this salad. This will be a feature on Thursdays Treasures.

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  11. Grill peaches first, let cool /dice,can sub Japs for the red pepper or just add 1 large.minced jap...it kicks it way up

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I love to read your comments and suggestions. Hope that you enjoyed your visit to Grandma Loy"s Kitchen.

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