Prizewinning Sunday Salad

This chicken salad lived up to its name because it immediately won our approval and stamp of "nommy" the first time we made it. Like a typical chicken salad, once you prep the ingredients, all you have to do is throw everything together and you have a filling main dish to pair with fruit, crackers and cheese, or smoothies (which is the option we chose.)

I guess the easy instructions along with prep that can be done ahead of time is why the name indicates that this salad is ideal for Sunday lunches after church. I'm sure that was your first thought upon reading the title, but I must admit my brain processes took a less logical approach and assumed the combination of "prizewinning" and "Sunday" in the name suggested that you would be winning prizes on Sunday with the dish. I don't think that's too far-fetched however because I believe this is one of the best chicken salads I have ever had. Honestly, it's second only to chicken salad that I had on tour with the Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps this summer. Their head chef could make a mean chicken salad; I'll have to get the recipe...and cut it down from 400 servings....

Prizewinning Sunday Salad
from the Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals
Makes approximately 6 servings.

Ingredients
1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast (about 10 ounces)
2 cups cubed cooked ham (about 10 ounces)
4 stalks celery, diced or dash of celery seeds (optional)
1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Lettuce leaves (optional for presentation)

As always, for any recipe that requires chicken, we cooked up some of our frozen chicken breasts in the skillet. We bought a thickly-sliced ham from the supermarket that was significantly more pricey than sandwich ham, but the big salty bites of ham throughout the salad were totally worth it. Plus it provided more than enough meat for this recipe, so it lasted us a good while afterwards for tasty sammiches.

Instructions
1. In a large bowl combine pineapple chunks, chicken, ham, celery, sweet pepper, and almonds.

2. For dressing, in a small bowl combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Pour dressing over salad; toss lightly to coat. Serve on lettuce-lined plates if desired.

As I mentioned before, we enjoyed filling chocolate peanut butter smoothies with this summer meal!