Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Curry Turkey Salad

I've been trying to think of creative ways to use my leftover turkey this year and this recipe turned out to be a winner.  If you've had enough turkey and stuffing sandwiches, this is something that's delicious and a little different.  I'm not sure what "enough" would entail - 3-4 dozen?  

Don't let curry scare you.  Even if you aren't a huge curry fan, I would still give this a try.  Balanced with the savory flavor from the soy sauce, the tartness of the cranberries, and the creaminess of the mayo, the curry doesn't punch your taste buds in the face.  It's more of a firm handshake, or an enthusiastic high five.  Try it.  You'll know what I mean.


Curry is such an interesting spice - made from several different spices, curry has this savory, smokey, sweet flavor that gives basic (and sometimes boring) recipes a little twist.  Curry powders made with turmeric (most are) also have this beautiful golden yellow color.  

I make this recipe often, but with chicken.  Also, instead of left over homemade cranberry sauce like we're using today, I'll throw in either mango chutney or dried cherries/dried cranberries.  I just loved the idea of using something else I had left over, so this worked out just beautifully.

Here are our ingredients for today:

Left Over Turkey Breast
Mayonnaise
Curry Powder
Soy Sauce
Red Onion

Start with finely shredding your turkey with your hands or with two forks, doesn't matter.  I like shredding turkey or chicken for this recipe because it comes out creamier.

Please use Hellman's mayonnaise. Miracle whip makes me want to end it all and will prevent us from being BFFs.
Now, I realize I make this in a bizarre fashion.  If you want, you could probably stir everything in at once, but I take a couple extra steps because it ensures the meat is the right texture and it allows the other ingredients to shine without getting muddled.

Add only half of the mayonnaise to the turkey.  Mash with a fork until turkey is nice and creamy. 

In a separate bowl, add your soy sauce and curry powder to the rest of the mayonnaise.

I like blending the dressing separately because it gives the curry powder a chance to infuse the mayonnaise.   I also have this super cute mini whisk and I wanted to use it.

Now, add the dressing you just made to the turkey.  Mix really well.  Keep using a fork.  This will break the big pieces down even further and help integrate the dressing. 

Ever have chicken salad and all of the mayonnaise is just coating big chunks of dry chicken and it falls out of the bottom of your sandwich?  I hate that.  This will prevent such a crime from happening. 

Now, add your finely chopped red onions.  If you don't have red onions, use white onions.  It doesn't really matter.  Also, if you want some extra crunch, throw in some finely chopped celery too.  Onions and celery are ingredients you will most likely have left over after cooking stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. 

Mmmmmm my favorite part.  Again, I normally use dried cherries or dried cranberries here, but I didn't want this delicious cranberry sauce to go to waste.  I added it at the end so I could gently fold it into the turkey salad mixture.  If you added it at the beginning it would most likely turn everything pink.  Pink turkey salad would give me nightmares.

This is exactly how it should look.  You want to SEE your ingredients.  You eat with your eyes first, don't forget.

Give it a little try.  Mine tasted just right.  Notice how I piled as much cranberry sauce on my fork as possible?   Depending on your tastes, you might want to add a little pepper or maybe a little more onion depending on your preference.

Now, get two slices of yummy white bread.  Make it special.  Use Italian, or sour dough, or a nice rustic country white.  I toasted mine, but I would maybe try it with soft white bread instead.  You want to really appreciate the creaminess of the salad and the crunchy bread sort of took away from that.  I would probably eat homemade cranberry sauce off the floor if some happened to fall there, so I added extra cranberry sauce to one of the slices too. 

This was really, really, really good.  It's also a really pretty looking salad too.  Only I would describe turkey salad as pretty.

I'm really curious to hear what you guys think of this recipe.  Try it out and let me know what you think.  Keep cooking and stay hungry!

Curry Turkey Salad
3 Cups Shredded Turkey Breast
1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbs of Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 Tsp of Curry Powder
2 Tbs of Finely Chopped Red Onion
3 Tbs of Homemade Cranberry Sauce 

Finely shred turkey breast.  Add half of mayonnaise and stir with a fork so turkey becomes nice and creamy.  Add curry powder and soy sauce to remaining mayonnaise.  Whisk together and add the dressing with a fork to the turkey mixture.  Add onions, mix.  Fold in cranberry sauce at the end and gently stir so shape and color of the cranberry sauce keeps its integrity.  Serve on regular or toasted white bread and enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. I just made this Jaisa and it was AWESOME. Thank you for an alternative to the stuffing/mashed potato/turkey sandwich.

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