Loaded Chicken or Tuna Salad

Oh, my goodness! This brought Chicken Salad to a whole new level for me. Things I did differently: I baked 2 boneless-skinless chicken breast in the oven at 400 for about 20 min.  along with the whole red pepper. When you remove the pepper from the oven it skin easily peels away. I served it on

Ingredients:

2 to 3 cups shredded chicken or 4 cans of white albacore tuna, drained
2 green onions, both the light and dark green parts, sliced
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
1 small carrot peeled and grated or shredded (steam carrots about 1 to 2 minutes, for more flavor)
2 large stalks of celery, peeled (this is the best way to add it to salads, no strings), thick white end cut off, split vertically three or four times, finely diced, LIKE THIS

1 to 3 avocados, depending on how many sandwiches, each half slightly mashed
Garlic Greek Yogurt Ranch Mayo (recipe follows)
 kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, if needed.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix in as much of the Greek Yogurt ranch mayo as you desire.

2.  The Secret – Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours

3. Serve as sandwiches, slightly mashing an avocado on top or spreading the avocado on one or both slices of bread then layering boston or butter lettuce and tomato.

Greek Yogurt Garlic Ranch “Mayo” (Double or add add another half of this recipe for more ‘mayo’)
Adapted from this recipe
Makes about 1 cup
2/3 cup Greek Yogurt (Use all mayonnaise instead of yogurt, if desired)
2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (if using all mayonnaise, just 2)
1/4 cup chopped. fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh dill weed
1 garlic clove chopped and smashed into a paste with a pinch of kosher salt, LIKE THIS
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup buttermilk (more or less, taste as you drizzle it in and stir, or 2 teaspoons buttermilk powder*) You can omit all the buttermilk, if you like. It’s great without it too, since yogurt is already tangy.  If using all mayo, you need to use it.
salt and pepper to taste
* You can usually find buttermilk powder in the baking or dried milk aisle in supermarkets.  If not, you can order it online.

DIRECTIONS:

 In a medium bowl, stir together strained Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, parsley, chives, dill, garlic paste,, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir in buttermilk. Add more or less buttermilk for desired taste and consistency.  I like it thick, like, well..mayo.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Wrap  and refrigerate for several hours before adding it to salad, if you have the time.  Even more flavor!

Found via Pintrest Here