Nutty Chicken Salad

This is my current go-to recipe for Chicken Salad. My husband likes it, and I do too - it adds a little sweetness with the apple and crunch with the almonds. I won't take a picture (yet) because Chicken Salad just doesn't photograph well unless it's on the sandwich.

And honestly, I just use this recipe as a guide. I used 2 chicken breasts, no celery, no garlic, a golden delicious apple, relish, mustard, salt & pepper, and mayo this time. If it were just me, I would add the garlic and red pepper... and in fact I might yet:-) My husband doesn't like those as well - but they add a nice contrast that he might be missing. 

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 stalk celery
1 onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
4 eggs
1 large red apple, diced
6 small sweet pickles, diced
1 (3 ounce) package sliced almonds
salt and pepper to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Directions
1.Over medium-high heat, bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add chicken, celery, a slice of the onion, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour.
2.Chop remaining onion and set aside.
3.Place egg in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
4.Drain chicken, discarding boiled vegetables. Chop chicken when cool.
5.In a medium bowl, mix the apple, onion, pickles, almond and salt, if desired. Add black and red pepper to taste. Stir in enough mayonnaise until the mixture sticks together well.
6.Cover a serving dish with lettuce leaves. Mound the chicken salad in the middle, and sprinkle with additional almonds, if desired. Serve with crackers.