Obviously we can’t travel to Hawaii right now, and most of us aren’t fortunate enough to live there (I’m thinking of you, Tracy). But we can mentally escape and eat Hawaiian-inspired food! This Hawaiian chicken salad gets its name from the pineapple and macadamia nuts. Yum! It is bursting with a lot of flavor, and unlike most chicken salads, there is no celery!!! Woohoo!
Whenever I go to Costco, I buy a rotisserie chicken. From chicken salad to chicken pot pie to taquitos to risotto, there are unlimited options for a quick(er) dinner prep night using a rotisserie chicken. I have mint growing and ginger is good at boosting immunity, so this was my meal of choice for our most recent chicken. It has bacon, so I knew the kids would be happy with it. I love when one of my kids’ eyes light up after taking a bite of something I made, which is exactly what our oldest did. Along with a, “This is sooo good.” Sometimes I have a heavy hand with the herbs and the response is not the same. This time I did measure them out, and the balance was perfect.
You will notice the recipe calls for spinach tossed with a Honey-Lime Vinaigrette. There was no spinach at the store the last time I went, so our sandwiches were without. If you do have spinach on hand, you can toss it with the vinaigrette or not. It’s a toss-up for me since there’s already so much flavor in the chicken salad. I usually do it, since I’m a recipe rule-follower, but I’m wondering if we enjoyed the sandwich more without it. I included a recipe for an Avocado-Cantaloupe salad you can serve on the side with the rest of the vinaigrette.
The instructions are pretty straight-forward, beyond the hollowing out of the baguettes. I can never waste bread, so I just put the bread that I scooped out into a bowl and disappears at the dinner table. You could also make croutons with it. Do watch the baguettes as you broil them. They char quickly, so I’ve learned to stand in front of the oven after they’ve been in it for two minutes.
Here’s to mentally transporting from inside our homes to Hawaii!
