Fruity Chicken Salad

If I'm going to be completely honest with myself, I wasn't really sure how this whole recipe was going to come together. This was another one of those "throw a bunch of crap together and hope it tastes good in a limited amount of time" scenarios. My boyfriend said, "What's this called?" I told him it didn't have a name. If he liked it we'd name it, if he didn't we didn't need to because I wouldn't make it again.

Turned out it was nameable. Yey!

I really wanted to use coconut yogurt in this because I wanted a thicker, creamier dressing. But, I didn't have any, so I had to make do with the full-fat canned coconut milk. I did a similar dressing to the Pina Colada Salad - Zupas Style, but switched it up just a little. I'm not generally a huge fan of canned chicken. One, it's processed and I try to avoid processed foods. Two, it's pretty high in sodium. But, when you're in a hurry, it works for adding a lean protein to a dish. If you have any cooked chicken on hand, feel free to cube or shred it and use that instead of the canned.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped
1 can chunk chicken breast, drained (or 1 cup cooked boneless skinless breast)
1 pear, diced
1 can mandarine oranges in juice, drained
1/2 can pineapple in juice, drained
2 T. shredded unsweetened coconut

For the dressing:
2 T. full-fat canned coconut milk (or yogurt)
1 T. honey
1/2 to 1 T. rice vinegar
Few dashes cardamom (go gentle, the flavor is strong!)

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine chopped eggs, chicken breast, diced pear, drained oranges, drained pineapple and coconut. Toss well to combine.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk or yogurt, honey, 1/2 T. rice vinegar and cardamom. If too sweet, add a little more vinegar, a few drops at a time, until the flavor balances.

Pour dressing over salad and toss well to combine. Serve at room temperature, or referigerate and serve cold. Will keep refrigerated for a couple of days.