Saturday, July 26, 2008

Pineapple Chicken Salad Pitas


Mayonnaise is like an avocado. People have very strong feelings about it. They either love it or they hate it. My husband won't eat anything with mayo on or in it, but I think that when used properly, mayo can be good in a dish. I recently posted about my homemade pita bread and promised to share with you what I chose to stuff them with. Instead of a traditional Greek filling, I decided to fill mine with chicken salad. I have always been a fan of chicken salad containing pineapple, so when I saw this recipe from Cooking Light, I knew I wanted to try it.


The Worcestershire sauce gave this chicken salad a bit more depth. I added some celery because I like my chicken salad to have a little crunch (and I don't like nuts). The only other thing I would probably change next time is to use canned pineapple tidbits instead of crushed pineapple - I prefer a chunkier chicken salad.


If you don't have any pita bread on hand, this would be great sandwiched between some toasted bread, or simply by itself with a fresh fruit plate.

Pineapple Chicken Salad Pitas
from Cooking Light

2 1/2 cups chopped poached or cooked chicken breast* (about 1 pound) (My 1 lb of chicken yielded about 2 1/4 cups, so you might want to use more chicken; save time by using store bought, precooked Rotisserie chicken)
1/2 cup matchstick-cut carrots
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted (I omitted these)
1/3 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
4 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, each cut in half (I used my homemade pitas)
8 Romaine lettuce leaves (I forgot these)

* To poach your chicken, put the chicken breast halves in a large saucepan and add lightly salted water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. You can do this with frozen chicken breasts, too.


Combine first 11 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well. Line each pita half with 1 lettuce leaf; fill each half with 1/3 cup chicken mixture.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed pita halves)

15 comments:

  1. This looks so amazing and delicious! I love chicken salad, and I love that this is from Cooking Light, so it's much better for you. This looks great because it doesn't have too much mayo, which I think ruins chicken salad all too often. I've never had chicken salad with pineapple, but that sounds perfect. It looks even better with pita bread. I am definitely bookmarking this recipe to make soon!

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  2. What a fun recipe!! I love this homemade pita bread. I tackled it a few years ago and haven't tried it since. Your pictures are really tempting me! Beautiful!

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  3. I love the idea of adding pineapple to chicken salad! Beautiful looking pita bread too!

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  4. Now this is the type of chicken salad I like. So much better than the recent one I made!

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  5. This looks and sounds delicious! I will have to try this with some of my leftover chicken!

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  6. Oh wow, those look fantastic, Jaime! Delicious! What's wrong with hubby...mayo is nearly a food group here! LOL (alright, Miracle Whip, not mayo, but still)

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  7. This looks so good! I love making pita and I also love chicken salad when it has plain yogurt- I am so not a mayo fan.

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  8. This looks really good! I'm throwing a baby shower next weekend and this might work really well with my menu (I was planning on some type of chicken salad). I'm going to try it this week and see if I like it!

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  9. this is a great chicken salad recipe! i realy like this! i've never made chicken salad like this before, i can't wait to try it!

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  10. awesome use for your awesome pitas! chicken salad is one of the few mayo-containing creations that i'll eat. i like mine with grapes, but i've never tried it with pineapple. sounds goooood. :)

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  11. I'm having to play catch-up, and just saw your cobbler, pita bread, and chicken salad posts - you are one busy cook! ;) Everything looks fabulous, and I love your photos!

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  12. I love chicken salad. What a nice variation. I will have to try this!!

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  13. Looks like a yummy chicken salad to put in your pita!

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  14. This sounds delicious! Just wanted to let you know I left an award for you on my blog!

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  15. I'll have to try this. MIL likes pineapple in her chicken salads. I've never tried it before.

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