Cranberry Pistachio Light Chicken Salad

One of the many things that make my life worthwhile is shelling pistachios.
Seriously. It’s totally therapeutic for me.
Especially when I encounter one of those pesky ones that have only opened a tiny bit.
It’s like a challenge for me: ‘Stubborn pistachio’ v ‘Mike’.

I usually start using my fingernails to pry it open. When that fails, I bite it and hope my teeth don’t break.
When even that doesn’t work I bring out the artillery.
Pliers are my weapon of choice. Just as powerful as the hammer, but with more control and less shards.
Pliers are also infinitely better than tweezers, which generally break before the pistachio does. And you’re gonna end up with a barely open pistachio and one angry girlfriend on your hands — since you’ve borrowed her tweezers.
Another way to open a hermetically sealed pistachio is by destroying the shell completely with a laser (pew, pew, pew!) Or shoot it at a wall with an air cannon. If you happen to have one of those cool gadgets.

A friend of mine suggested that I buy shelled pistachios and just chill out.
I had to object. First off I am not a slacker; secondly pistachios just taste better when you shell them yourself.
Not to mention that with shelled ones you have some form of portion control. With the preshelled ones, there's no stopping. You’re going to inhale them by the handful.
You may not know this, but pistachios have been referred to as the “mindful snack” because they take longer to eat and require the snacker to slow down.
So yeah, my point.

Pistachios are great as a snack but even better in chicken salad - especially when paired with dried cranberries and an extra creamy dressing.
For realz.
Cranberries and pistachios healthfully brighten up the dish, all the while adding fragrance and flavor.
This Cranberry Pistachio Light Chicken Salad is crunchy, sweet, salty, juicy, and tangy — just the way a chicken salad should taste.
All in all, an easy chicken salad recipe that will impress everybody!

Cranberry Pistachio Light Chicken Salad                                                                     Print this recipe!

Note. I like to boil chicken breasts for chicken salad, as it makes for extra tender melt-in-your-mouth chicken. Feel free to use any leftover chicken you have available though (a purchased rotisserie chicken would also do great.)

Ingredients
Serves 4

2 boneless chicken breasts
1 vegetable bouillon (I used Rapunzel)
½ onion, separated
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 celery stalks, divided
1 (6 oz / 200 gr) container Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (make your own mayo with this recipe)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup dried cranberries, chopped
¼ cup pistachios, chopped

Directions

In a medium saucepan, place chicken breasts, 1 celery stalk cut into big pieces, ¼ onion, parsley, and cover with water. Add bouillon, bring to a boil, lower to simmer, and cook covered for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken, let cool, and cut into small bites*.
In a small bowl mix the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, and parsley. Set aside.
Chop the remaining ¼ onion and 2 celery stalks.
In a large bowl toss chicken, celery, onion, cranberries, pistachios, with Greek yogurt mixture. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
The chicken salad will keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

*Do not throw away all that good tasting chicken broth you just made. Skim the excess fat and save it for later use (you can also freeze it.)

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 195 calories, 8 grams of fat, 12 grams of carbs, and 22 grams of protein.