Do you know you can transform plain cooked chicken into a fresh and lively salad ideal for lunch or dinner? Chicken salad in the U.S. dates back from the 19th century although this traditional dish was a common recipe in Asia a long time ago. In fact, it is believed that the Chinese were the first one to prepare chicken with oils and spices.
Typically, American chicken salad consists of chicken mixed with mayonnaise or other herbs, plus a sweet crunch of grapes, onions, or celery. Reports indicate that this delicious dish was first marketed in the United States in 1863 at Town Meats, located in Rhode Island. To woo customers, the owner combined leftover chicken with grapes, mayonnaise, and tarragon.
So if you are planning to prepare a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner, consider the herbed chicken recipe with the following instructions, and don’t forget to explore for other tips on how to make the meal even more delightful.
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1: Preparing the Chicken
Step 2: Adding Herbs and Garlic
Step 3: Adding Salad Greens and Red Peppers
Step 4: Seasoning with Lemon Juice and Black Pepper
Step 5: Making the Creamy Dressing
Step 6: Pour the dressing over the salad.
Step 7: Serving
Additional Tips:
Chicken Source
The chicken somehow contributes significantly to the quality taste of your salad. You may lose your appetite if you obtain a chicken from an industrial farm or CAFO. This is because some have oversized breasts, which distort their body proportions, and some can hardly walk.
Surprisingly, nearly all American chickens are obtained from CAFOs or industrial farms. They are mostly fed on genetically engineered meals from corn and soybeans, which is far from their natural diet consisting of seeds, worms, insects, and green plants.
Due to the addition of byproducts including chicken feathers and animal parts in feeds fed to industrial chickens, there is an increase in the spread of diseases. As a result, they are constantly fed on antibiotics. Additionally, these animals hardly see the light of day and thus suffer from vitamin D deficiencies. Worse still, they can’t avoid stress and the spread of diseases due to artificial diet and overcrowding.
Effects of Antibiotics
Excessive use of antibiotics is a potential threat to human health and the environment, especially if they run into rivers, lakes, or other water bodies.
According to the 2019 AR Threats Report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi are responsible for causing a minimum of 2,868,700 infections and 35,900 deaths each year.[1]
Poultry-associated foodborne outbreaks in the United States pose significant food safety concerns, given the country’s substantial role in global poultry exports. Analyzing outbreaks from 1998 to 2012, the research found that poultry was implicated in the highest number of outbreaks, illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.[2] This costs Americans a total of $2.4 billion in illnesses every year.
Salmonella enterica and Clostridium perfringens were the most common pathogens. Restaurants were the primary location of food preparation, and food-handling errors and inadequate cooking were the main contributing factors.
Implementing effective measures to reduce poultry contamination and promote safe food handling practices can help mitigate these outbreaks and associated illnesses.
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2 Sources
We review published medical research in respected scientific journals to arrive at our conclusions about a product or health topic. This ensures the highest standard of scientific accuracy.
[2] Poultry: the most common food in outbreaks with known pathogens: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27780481/