Curried Chicken Salad

There used to be a place in downtown Indianapolis called The Educated Sandwich where a group of us often walked for lunch, and one of my favorites was their Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich.  They only had it occasionally, so after searching a while, I found a recipe that pretty much duplicates the spicy-savory-sweet goodness I loved.  I couldn't just WAIT until they decided to make it, right?

When I was a kid, my mom used to pack the little boxes of SunMaid raisins in our lunches, and I always ate them all.  Then we'd blow into the box through the top to make a kazoo-like noise!  I don't know when I started picking them out of my food, but there you are.  I leave them out of this recipe because I don't like their texture when they're included in a recipe and partially rehydrate, but that's my personal weirdness.

Curried Chicken Salad (6 servings)

3/4 c mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

2 T curry powder

1 lb cooked, cubed chicken breast

1 large apple, cored and chopped

1 1/2 chopped celery (about 4 ribs)

1/3 c raisins (optional)

1/4 c green onion, chopped

Mix the mayonnaise and curry powder together, then stir in the remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Sloppy Joes (From Mom's Recipe Card File)

Like everyone else staying home because of the coronavirus pandemic, we've been eating at home, which means I've been cooking and cooking and cooking.

When I want to make something I can count on to please everyone, I often fix Mom's "Barbecue," or Sloppy Joes!  It's a simple, all-pantry-ingredient recipe (except for the buns) that we never tire of eating.  Great comfort food.  I make it about every other week.

I make a large-ish batch so I'll have leftovers.  It freezes well, but we usually end up eating it all in a couple of days.  Something else I like to do is to mix all the sauce ingredients up and freeze that.  Then all I have to do is grab a container of sauce out of the freezer and add it to 2 pounds of lean ground beef and 1 cup of chopped onions, browned.  I usually make two to four containers of sauce at a time.  So convenient!


Sloppy Joes

2 lb lean ground beef
1 c chopped onions
1 1/2 c ketchup (I like Heinz)
3/4 c sugar
3 T mustard
1 T prepared horseradish (or to taste)
1 T vinegar
1 1/2 t celery seed
1 1/2 t Worchestershire sauce

Brown the ground beef and onion.  If not using lean ground beef, drain; if using lean ground beef, cook until nearly all the juices have evaporated.

Add the remaining ingredients, simmer about 20 minutes.  Serve on sandwich buns.