This is a totally new chicken salad for me – both in flavor and in how it’s made. But I think it is going to be my favorite 
The idea for this dish started when Kristina of Stonyfield Farm contacted me about trying out one of their products, their Oikos Greek yogurt. Now normally I would be leary of such an offer, because as a rule I don’t just review products on this blog and I had never been solicited to review a product before. However, I happen to already be a big fan of a lot of Stonyfield products, and have always been impressed with their ethics and advocacy for treating the Earth with respect. By the way Stonyfield is also being featured in the newly released film Food Inc. I really want to see it, but alas, it does not play in my city 
I currently already exclusively buy Stonyfield milk and reuglar yogurt, one because it’s organic, but two and most importantly, because it’s the best tasting stuff I have found. So, I agreed to try out the Greek yogurt, and about a week later received LOTS of coupons in the mail for free yogurt, discounts on other Stonyfield foods, a reusable grocery bag, a magnet conversion chart for cooking with yogurt, and a couple brochures. I have since used up a coupon for the 16 oz. container of plain Greek yogurt (though it comes in other flavors like honey and blueberry which I would like to try some time!), since I figured one large container would be all that I would need to try it out in a couple different ways, and plain would be the most versatile. I got mine at Whole Foods, because my close grocery store didn’t have it. You can use the store locator to see where nearest you this yogurt is available. (Picture from Stonyfield Farms site, used with permission)
First – I took a bite, a spoonful straight out of the container. No doctoring it with fruit or honey, just plain, as is. This stuff is RICH. And CREAMY. Like melt in your mouth creamy. And yet this was nonfat! Hard to believe, I know. In fact, I didn’t even realize that until after when I looked at the labeling on the container a bit more closely. Everyone I know who’s had Greek yogurt raves about it, and now I know why. As a Greek yogurt virgin, this was like no other yogurt I’d had before. And I absolutely loved it. Is this as good or better than other Greek yogurt out there? Honestly I don’t know, as this is all I’ve ever had. But I’m happy. One bite completely sold me on Stonyfield’s Greek yogurt.
Second – I must make something! One of my husband’s favorite foods is chicken salad (mine too), and I am 99% confident that chicken salad is the only reason we own that one tiny little jar of mayo in the fridge. I usually add a ton of curry to my chicken salad to cover up the mayo taste because I’ve always hated mayo, even as a little kid, haha. So I figured this would be the perfect thing to try replacing with some yogurt, to see how it fared. I didn’t want to attempt baking, as I’m a pretty novice baker as it is and don’t really feel comfortable experimenting in arts I’m not a master of yet. Not that I’m really a master of anything, but definitely not baking!
I created a dressing using a different set of flavors than I typically do in chicken salad, and created this pesto version out of some awesome basil and arugula that I purchased at the farmer’s market this past weekend. This was also the PERFECT way to use up all the rest of my chicken leftover from my fabulous roast!
Ingredients:
3 cups shredded chicken (already cooked)
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1/4 cup of kalamata olives, quartered
1/4 onion, chopped
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
2 cups basil
4 cups arugula
juice from a lemon
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup graded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup plain yogurt (use Greek yogurt if you can!)
salt & pepper
greens to serve chicken salad on if desired
Directions:
1. Combine chicken, celery, onions, and olives in a large bowl.
2. Set oven to broil. Toast pine nuts for about 5 min, or until golden brown. Careful not to burn them!
3. In a food processor, add basil and arugula and pulse til chopped . Then add in the lemon juice, garlic, EVOO, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, yogurt, salt & pepper. Pulse until smooth.
4. Add about a cup of the pesto mixture to the bowl of the chicken salad mix, add in the almonds, and toss until all is coated.
5. Serve on a bed of arugula and garnish with more sliced almonds. Eat!
Oh and this was taken with my “stuck in one setting” camera, so forgive the pics! It actually totally died after this, and I had to use my printer to read the san disk to get the images!
Stonyfield’s site also has lots of recipes to try with yogurt and Greek yogurt – I am going to try to make their creamy polenta recipe this weekend, but using some of my homemade chicken stock instead of water.
I do have one negative thing to say about this yogurt, however, and that is the price. Thank goodness I received such awesome coupons to try this out, because there is no way this poor grad student could afford Oikos organic Greek yogurt on a regular basis. One 16 oz. plain container was $5. Normally I buy plain regular Stonyfield yogurt, in a 32 oz. container for $4.29. If I switched to the Greek yogurt all the time, I’d be just about doubling my yogurt expenses, and I am just too poor to spend more than $10 a week on yogurt (I eat yogurt every morning with granola and fresh fruit as my breakfast and so go through a 32 oz. container a week on my own, not counting what my husband eats). Though, as a nice special treat to myself, I will definitely pick some up on occasion :)
But do not fret, because I have good news for you, my loyal faithful readers!! The rest of the goodies that I received in my little care package from Stonyfield I am giving away in my first giveaway ever, so that you too can try Oikos organic Greek yogurt and enjoy a nice reusable grocery bag (I already have like 5 so I really didn’t need a new one). I am giving away coupons worth FOUR free 5.3 oz. sized cups of Oikos organic Greek yogurt, along with some other Stonyfield coupons and one bright yellow reusable grocery bag with the Stonyfield logo on it!
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment and answer this question:
How do you like to eat or cook with yogurt???
Today is Thursday, and this giveaway is going to run for one week, so you have until 11:59 pm (EST) on Wednesday, June 24 to enter. Winner will be chosen by a random drawing, and announced next Thursday! (sorry, limited to US only, I’m too poor to ship things international!)
And if you don’t win, I noticed that you can go here to fill out a form and receive some coupons via email to get a discount and try out the Oikos Greek yogurt for yourself
And just to be clear - while Stonyfield did provide me with some tasty yogurt for free, these opinions are my own and no one elses. I would not have agreed to this if I did not already love Stonyfield food and what their brand stands for!
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All About GF Substitutions
I love to eat Greek Yogurt with fresh slices of mango, strawberries, and blueberries!! YUM!! MY fav is Fage’, Chobani, and Oikos (in that order). I must agree with the fact that it is TOO expensive!! The little individual ones can go up to 1.99 each!! To save some money- Trader Joe’s has a good Greek yogurt- and it’s a little cheaper
That chicken salad rocks! I received some coupons for Oikos too, but have yet to decide what to do with them for now. Maybe gyros *shrugs*. Regardless, I must make your chicken salad! Drool worthy photos too!
I love to use yogurt in sauces to give it the creamy flavor while being healthy.
Oooo neat! I haven’t really branched out away from eating yogurt out of the container really. I did marinate with it once and it came out to be some really moist chicken.
Mmmm… that salad looks great! I love pesto! I really like to eat Greek yogurt with honey.
I like using it as a marinade! And making tzatziki. Love the stuff.
I totally agree with you about the price though. I love greek yogurt, but I’ll often strain out the regular kind of yogurt to save a bit of money.
I am boring and have never used yogurt in cooking, I don’t think. However, I have bookmarked this recipe and would love to try it once my basil grows back!
I love to drizzle some local honey into my greek yogurt, top it with some granola, and eat it for breakfast on the go!
PS: Your chicken salad looks great! I think I know what I’m doing with my next batch of basil . . .
I *love* the idea of pesto chicken salad! Yum!! As for yogurt, I prefer Greek style because it’s great sweet or savory all on it’s own… sweet with some fruit or honey & nuts…. savory with some spices, grated cucumber, lemon juice & oregano!
I love Greek yogurt! I usually get the Trader Joe’s because it’s the cheapest, but when I did Greek Gyros for my Apartment Grilling Series, I used the little tub of Oikos for the tzatziki sauce. That’s my favorite use for it.
My favorite way to use greek yogurt is to have it over fresh berries, and put a little bit of whip cream on top…a yummy healthy dessert that curbs my sweet cravings and I love the tang of the yogurt!
My husband would love this recipe. The man loves basil and luckily it is in an abundance in our garden.
I love yogurt with my bulgar pilaf http://brannyboilsover.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/bulgur-pilaf-with-yogurt/
It is so funny that you made this because as I was lying in bed last night (yep, I think about food as I am trying to fall asleep) I was thinking of making pretty much the SAME thing with my yogurt. lol! A sandwich/tea shop that closed a while back had my fav chicken salad and theirs was with yogurt, pesto, and hearts of palm. This looks fantastic to me, of course!
Oh Jenn. I just tried this stuff this week because it was on sale and new at Kroger down here. I took a bite, put it down and had to find my reading glasses. I was sure that it was a fat bomb. It was so rich and creamy. Was I surprised to find it wasn’t full of fat. I’m using it in my kids’ day camp cooking classes next week for fruit tarts and veggie dip. Gotta get to Kroger tomorrow and hope its still buy one get one free.
I love to use greek yogurt to make tziki (sp?). It’s my all time favorite sauce to go with chicken.
Just letting you know I’ve nominated you for a blog award, check out my blog!
I have a great recipe for yogurt chicken that I have been making for years. It’s tangy and keeps the chicken so juicy.
Your chicken salad sounds great! I love yogurt with fresh berries.
I never manage to make anything with yogurt because I love to eat it with mueslix, or honey and dried fruit and nuts. It doesn’t last enough enough to go into recipes.
I haven’t actually cooked with yogurt yet, but I have a few recipes that call for it. This would give me the perfect opportunity to use one of them.
Aside from eating it for breakfast or a snack, I especially like using yogurt to bake with. Actually, now that I think about it a few of my favorite recipes use yogurt in them!
I have a two your old who doesn’t always want breakfast. I like to take some yogurt and mix in some whey protein powder and freeze it into popsicles. In the morning she feels like getting a popsicle for breakfast is a treat and I know she’s getting something healthy and nutritious.
I use yogurt for my egg salads instead of mayonnaise. It tastes exactly the same! I also use it as a dip for raw veggies.
I used yogurt for the first time last night. I made a lemon-garlic fat-free yogurt sauce to add to my lebanese inspired turkey burgers. It was delicious!!! I’m def. going to start using more yogurt in my dishes!
Your salad looks delicious! I don’t use yogurt in recipes a lot. I love to buy Stonyfield yogurts with fruit and eat straight from the container. I’d love to try Oikos Greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream.
My 1 year old boy can’t get enough of the stuff. And, I’ve found that I really like it with some fresh fruit, or just drizzled with a little honey.
The pesto chicken looks delicious too! I bet the arugula gives it a nice spicy bite.
I love to put yogurt in smoothies! In fact, I just had one last night.
I have yet to cook with yogurt, but I love it eat it with fruit. I like the Stonyfield yogurt drinks too.
My favorite way to eat greek yogurt is right out of the bucket (my other half doesnt like plain, more for me! a ha ha!)
For cooking, I use it as a direct replacement for sourcream: tacos; with some lemon, pepper, and chives as a dipping sauce for artichokes; as a marinade with lemon and spices for grilled chicken; swirled into soup.
I love greek Yogurt. I usually eat it with fresh fruit for breakfast. I have not tried cooking with it yet, and I have not tried Oikos either! Yum!
I like yogurt simply drizzled with a little molasses! So good!
Greek yogurt has become a new staple in our household. We pretty much use it as a replacement for sour cream. I use it in dips, in chicken salad (like you did) and in potatoes. We absolutely love it and love that it is much friendlier on our waistline than sour cream (not to mention has much better health benefits). The one thing we have learned is that you must use the full fat version (and temper it) if you are going to heat it as a cream replacement in anything on the stove…otherwise it curdles.
BTW, that chicken salad sounds amazing!
I made this last night and it was delicious!! I switched out the olives for tomatos, but other than that, I did exactly what you did. This is something I will definitely make again. Thanks for the recipe!
Check out my blog post here if you’d like: http://ericaskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/2009/07/pesto-chicken-salad.html