Inspiration for recipe development can come from anything. Recently, mine came in the form of Greek yogurt. Chobani, to be exact. Last month right around my birthday, I jokingly tweeted the brand saying something along the lines of ‘why not send one of your biggest fans a birthday present?’ I didn’t really expect a response, but sure enough, a few hours later I saw they tweeted me back telling me to e-mail them my address and look for my birthday treat within a couple weeks. They sent me a box full of each of their flavors. Apple cinnamon, passion fruit, blood orange, mango, blueberry, strawberry banana, vanilla, pineapple, raspberry, strawberry, lemon, mango, and plain — all of them! Chobani has always been my go-to brand for Greek yogurt simply because I like their flavors and they are always 3 for $4 at Publix, but now they have definitely solidified a place in my heart.
The box of free yogurt couldn’t have come at a better time. A few days before I received the gift, I came across a recipe contest on Facebook. Pretzel Crisps, one of my all-time favorite foods, was hosting a contest for appetizer recipes to go with their product. I tried to think of something unique. I love eating Pretzel Crisps with hummus, Tzatziki, or salsa, and thought maybe I could put a twist on one of those as my entry. But I didn’t want to do just another dip; that’s too ordinary and expected. Then it hit me: I have a ton of Greek yogurt sitting in my refrigerator just begging to be used, so why not use it? I had recently tried a really good chicken salad from Costco that had dried cranberries in it. I almost bought some, but God knows how fattening store-bought chicken salad can be, so I thought I would recreate it. My inspiration came from my abundance of Greek yogurt and my need for a lower-calorie chicken salad. After adding ingredients to the chicken salad to give it more flavor and make it a little bit sweeter dish, I came up with a cute, cheesy name for it and entered it into the contest. Now I just have to wait until the contest is over to see if the Pretzel Crisp judges like it. If they do, it’ll be posted on their Facebook page and will be up to everyone on Facebook to vote!
“Go Nuts & Cranberries for Chicken Salad!”
4-6 oz. Rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded
6 oz. non-fat, plain Chobani Greek yogurt
1-2 tbsp honey
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 cup red grapes, cut in halves
About a handful of dried cranberries
dried cherries, walnuts and pistachios, chopped*
*I used a trail mix that included all of these.
Whisk together the yogurt and honey in a medium bowl.
Add all of the ingredients and mix until well combined. Simple!
