AIP Chicken Salad Lunch

Read the can. Plenty of canned chicken and tuna carries vegetable broth, soy, or something listed only as 'flavoring', and the ones packed in water and salt alone make a shorter list than you would guess standing in the aisle. Find the brand that clears and you never have to read it again.

Buy the canned salmon with the soft bones still in it, and eat them. Canning softens them enough that they mash into the avocado without you noticing, and they are a real source of calcium, which gets harder to come by once dairy is gone. A fish went into that can whole. Eating the whole of it is part of the point.

The reason this one travels is 1 piece of plastic wrap pressed flat down onto the surface of the food, not stretched across the top of the container. Cut avocado browns where an enzyme in the flesh meets air, so the wrap takes the air away and the lime slows the enzyme. 3 minutes at the counter at noon on a Tuesday when the meeting has run long, and lunch stops being the thing that undoes the week.

Ingredients

Basic recipe (makes 1 serving):

• 1 can cooked chicken, tuna, or salmon (packed in water and salt only; check label)
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup avocado oil or olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
• Pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Drain the canned protein well and place it in a bowl.
2. Add the avocado, oil, lime juice, and a pinch of sea salt. Mash and stir together until the avocado is mostly incorporated and the texture is creamy. Adjust oil for a looser consistency, or leave it thicker to scoop onto lettuce leaves.
3. Fold in the add-ins for whichever variation you are making. Taste and add more lime or salt as needed.
4. Serve immediately in a bowl, scooped onto lettuce or collard green leaves, or packed into a container for later.

Portable tip: The avocado base holds well for several hours with a squeeze of extra lime juice and a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface.

*Adapted from Thriving On Paleo*

Variations

Each of these starts from the basic recipe above, then adds:

Variation: The Summer

• 1 batch basic recipe
• 1 handful fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• 2 radishes, sliced
• 1 sweet potato, diced and roasted (optional)

Variation: The Harvest

• 1 batch basic recipe
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 handful dried cranberries or raisins (check label: no sunflower oil or seed oils)
• 1 apple or pear, diced
• 1 sweet potato, diced and roasted (optional)
• 1 handful sliced tigernuts (optional; tigernuts are AIP-compliant despite the name)

Variation: The Curry

• 1 batch basic recipe
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 handful raisins
• 3 dried apricots, diced
• 1 tablespoon AIP curry powder (nightshade-free blend: turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, mace, no chili, paprika, cumin, or coriander)
• 1 handful sliced tigernuts (optional)