This chicken salad came from me simply experimenting, and it was an experiment gone well! I removed eggs from my diet for quite a while because I developed an intolerance after eating too many over a period of time (post to come about why every thing in moderation is so important). My life consisted of a lot of experimenting at this time, in order to find foods that I could eat, that didn't include egg (you don't realize just how many things egg is in, until you CAN'T eat it). One of chicken salads main ingredients being mayo, and mayo almost always containing egg, made chicken salad out of the question.

Chicken salad has always been one of my favorites. My dad used to make it for me all the time for lunch when I was younger, so when my sad, sad egg free days came upon me, my dreams of delicious chicken salad sandwiches were crushed. Just to provide you with some background, in my house, my mom is the main chef, spoiling all of us around her with delicious dinners every night. My dad, he was usually the breakfast chef (bacon and eggs), or, his other specialty was lunch, tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad or surprising me with subway. Those are the lunches I remember courtesy of my dad growing up. Gotta love him. All those lovely "salads" he would make, contain a lot of mayo... which like I mentioned above, was a no go during my egg situation. If I was going to want to enjoy the yummy chicken salad my dad would make me as a kid, I had to get creative! Side note, I'm also dairy free... plain Greek yogurt would have been an awesome substitution, and is definitely one I recommend if you want to try something other than mayo. However, this wasn't an option for me... this is where my good friend tahini comes in! Tahini is basically like a nut butter, but made with sesame seeds! I love to get Trader Joes organic tahini its organic, and its a great price. It also allows me to add creaminess to a lot of my dishes!

One day I decided to add it to my chicken salad, along with the other ingredients you'll find below. This recipe was completely inspired by my dad, just a bit of a healthier/lighter twist. When I first had his chicken salad with apple in it, I was like.... apple and chicken? THEN, I tried it, and it was love from then on. The sweet from the apple, and the creaminess from the mayo (or in this case tahini) equals perfection! I've been using the chicken breast, from my whole chicken I roast at the beginning of the week. I chop it up really small and it is great in this recipe!

I love to pair my chicken salad with some fresh cut veggies, and Trader Joe's organic blue corn tortilla chips. I also love to roast sweet potato rounds or toast some gluten free bread to make a yummy chicken salad sandwich. All ways of enjoying it are delicious!