After everyone has taken their favorite part of the chicken, there is still a lot of meat left on the rack. A few moments with busy fingers will usually remove enough meat from the bones to make a batch of chicken salad. By tradition we make it with the kitchen grinder but it can certainly be made in the food processor or with finely chopped ingredients. Part of the celery is fine diced and added to the rest of the ingredients after grinding to give mouth feel - some crunch.

Most often sandwiches are the goal when making chicken salad but it makes a wonderful dip with chips and crackers not to mention that a scoop of the salad on a lettuce leaf with some sliced tomatoes and finger veggies makes a very tasty salad for lunch. If the salad plate is your goal, reserve some of the chicken meat and dice it for addition with the celery and olives after the grinding.

• 4 cups "left-over" chicken meat
• 4 stalks celery
• 4 scallions with green stem
• 1 medium-sized dill pickle
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Pinch of cayenne pepper flakes

• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 1/2 green Bell pepper
• 1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

1. Ahead of time, prepare eggs. Place 2 eggs in a small saucepan with over. Add water to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and place lid.. Allow to set for 15 minutes. Drain and cool in cold water - change as necessary. Do not peel until the eggs have cooled completely.
2. Pull meat from rack. Exclude most of the fat and skin. Break into small chunks for the grinder.

   

3. Clean and trim celery. Cut two of the stalks into chunks for the grinder. Fine dice the other two stalks and set aside with the sliced olives. They will be added after the grinding. Remove seeds and core from green pepper. Trim and clean scallions and onion. Cut vegetables into chunks for the grinder.
4. Grind the ingredients, once through, with the coarse blades. Save most of the celery for last to chase the “good stuff” through - you always lose a bit in the grinder. Add the reserved celery and olives to the mix. Season with cayenne, salt and pepper. Add most of the mustard and mayonnaise and fold to mix. Taste and adjust seasonings, mustard and mayonnaise to your liking.