Recipe Challenge #2: Chicken Salad (Sandwich)

FIRST: FOLLOW UP ON THE BROWNIES!  I was afraid that I would wake up to dry, hard brownies that crumbled when I took them out of the pan to take to work.  I am happy to report that this was not the case!  They were still perfectly chewy & moist.  Everyone that tried one commented on how great they tasted!

Ok, onto tonight's challenge:

I know I'm starting my THRIVE Recipe Challenge off with ridiculously easy recipes but there is a reason (besides the fact that I like easy recipes): I took inventory and realized that I didn't have all of the THRIVE products that I needed to complete many of the recipes without using outside resources.  So, I ordered the remaining items I needed to complete every recipe in the cookbook last night.  In the meantime, I'll have to stick with the really simple stuff.

Getting home a little later than usual tonight, an easy recipe was just what I was looking forward to "tackling".  After making it, I honestly think my 8 year old nephew could have done just as well.  It was super easy and required very little effort.

Basically, the recipe called for 3 c water, 1 1/2 c chopped THRIVE chicken, 1/2 c diced THRIVE celery, and 1/3 c of THRIVE chopped onions.  I brought everything to a boil, reduced the heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  Draining the mixture was as simple as pouring it into a strainer & then placing the strainer on top of the empty pot for 10 more minutes. 

While all of this didn't take very long at all, (just over 22 min), the recipe called for placing the mixture into the fridge "until cooled".  My thought was, "Umm, No. I'm hungry now". 

So, I sped up the process by placing it in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  This cooled the mixture enough to add in the 1/2 c Vegenaise.  We don't use mayonnaise (which is what the recipe used), so anything that calls for mayo gets Grapeseed Vegenaise instead.  It is MUCH healthier for you and we like it better than the taste of mayo.

I did a quick taste test and determined that it needed something else.  So, I added a little himalayan pink salt & ground black pepper.  While this made it almost just right, I still felt that it needed either chopped pickles or sweet relish to round it out.  Since I didn't have either of these items, I cut up some fresh tomatoes and added some tortilla chips to the dish.  If my diet wasn't sans gluten, a butter croissant would have been perfect with it.

Bottom line: I was pleasantly surprised that freeze dried chicken could be this tasty but next time I make the recipe, I'll have some pickles or relish on hand to try with it. :)

BTW, almost all Thrive products contain 100% NO GMO ingredients!