California Waldorf & Chicken Salad

. If you love the original Waldorf Salad first made at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, you're really gonna love this one! It's one of the ways I can get myself to eat my spinach. And after that I'll tell ya a great way to make chicken salad too.....

California Waldorf Salad

1/3 cup non-fat plain yogurt or sour cream( since I'm not a yogurt fan, I use sour cream)

1/3 cup Hellman's real mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon grated lime zest

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon honey or sugar

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup Thompson's white, seedless, raisins

3/4 cup halved red seedless grapes

1 cup apple, small dice

1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts

4 cups baby spinach, washed well and dried

Combine the yogurt or sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, zest, curry, and honey or sugar and set aside.

Mix together the celery, raisins, grapes, apple, and nuts in a large bowl. Add about half of the dressing, and stir to combine. Just before serving, add the spinach and toss to combine. Add more dressing if needed. This will serve 4-6 people.

A DIFFERENT CHICKEN SALAD:

A great way to make a very tasty chicken salad is to combine 3 parts diced, cooked chicken, and 2 parts diced celery and mix in some purchased coleslaw dressing like Marie's. The tangy sweetness is a perfect compliment to the chicken and celery. I love it on the flatboard "everything" crackers or toasted rounds of "everything" bagels.

You can, of course, add anything else you like to your chicken salad that you desire. I just like the simplicity of the chicken and celery alone.