With our barbecue we usually batch cook on the weekend for the week ahead. Recently we grilled a few whole herbed chickens, which are tasty on their own but after a meal or two it’s time to do something different with the chicken.
Chicken salad is a great Go-To summer picnic recipe. You’ll find all sorts of recipes online but as you’ve no doubt figured out by now I like simple. I used four simple ingredients that I had on hand: leftover grilled chicken, chopped cherries, mayonnaise and Patak’s Mild Curry Paste. I’ll be honest I was a little worried about the sweet cherries mixed with the stronger curry taste but I was pleasantly surprised. Like sweet and salty, this sweet and strong taste complimented each other wonderfully in the salad. I just added a tablespoon to one cup of mayonnaise but you could customize the amount of curry depending on the taste you wanted.
Instead of loading the plate up with a lot of bread, which can be very filling, I used a lettuce leaf. My two oldest ate this as a salad but my youngest rolled it up and ate it like a lettuce wrap. I sliced a bagel in small circles instead of giving the kids a whole slice. These are even nicer toasted in the oven with a little garlic butter, like homemade bagel chips.
Since I only had a little bit of my Patak’s Mild Curry Paste left I decided to use it up making biscuits. I’m a sucker for biscuits. I’m a sucker for anything bread actually. Using A Beautiful Mess’ Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits I omitted the jalapeños and added in the rest of my curry paste (about 2 teaspoons), mixing it in with my fingers until it was completely broken up and blended in the flour mix.
With the barbecue still hot from the grilled chicken, I was able to cook the biscuits over the coals following the oven instructions. I used a small circle cutter hoping to make a biscuits for a few dinners and lunches but it didn’t matter as they were gone in two days.
I’m not really a cook, being one to follow recipes versus create them, but I love that a simple bottle of Patak’s Mild Curry Paste enables me to change a recipe into something my own.
Disclosure: I am part of the Patak’s Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions and experiences on this blog are my own.