Ivy says:
God works in mysterious ways. I had no idea what I was going to write about today (in fact, I have no idea what I’m going to write about for Curbly, Shakhammer, and Shakyard today either), but lunch today provided plenty of Home-Ec 101 fodder. I’ve got an amusing story, a couple of quasi-recipes, and an ask the audience all wrapped up into one nice, neat post.
I’ve been craving chicken salad in the worst possible way lately. So today I went ahead and broke my vegetarianism and made myself and the kids chicken salad for lunch. Now, I’m not much of a cook, but I do make a fab chicken salad. I make mine with chicken (obviously), kosher salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, mayo, ranch dressing, cilantro, celery, parsley, and green grapes. Green grapes is what makes the chicken salad absolutely fab.
So I made chicken salad, and it took me longer to make it than for my kids to completely wipe it out. When I went back for seconds, the bowl was completely empty. I said, “I guess you liked the chicken salad, huh, guys?”
My 13 year old said, “Yeah, but next time, no celery. Or cilantro. Or mayo.”
My 6 year old said, “Yeah, and no grapes. Or ranch.”
I said, “Guys, if I leave all that stuff out, it’s just chicken, and funny, for all the hating you guys are doing on the ingredients, you managed to wipe that chicken salad off the face of the earth awfully quickly.”
My 13 year old said, “Well, that’s true,” and went on munching his sandwich.
One thing we made yesterday where nobody hated the ingredients was Watergate Salad. So cool and refreshing during the hottest part of the year! I had no idea it was so ridiculously easy to make. You take a cup of mini marshmallows, a package of pistachio pudding, and a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple and mix it together. Then take a cup and a half of Cool Whip and mix that. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour, and enjoy! Take that to your next potluck and impress people!
And now, for the “Ask the audience” portion of the post: Any ideas on how to make chicken salad vegetarian? What about tofu? Would that be any good with that? I have no idea, tofu kinda grosses me out, so I haven’t worked with it at all. Any tips on making a vegetarian chicken salad would win accolades and praise from the great Ivy. ![]()






