Gluten Free Recipe: Avocado Chicken Salad in a Half Shell

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By Alison Rose Munn

When I heard that this week’s theme is avocados my mouth started watering. Delicious! I don’t think one can go wrong adding them to almost any dish – or dessert. Invite me to a dinner party, there’s a good chance I’ll show up with guacamole, even if the theme is Chinese food. You can’t go wrong. So I started listing off all my favorite gluten free recipes with avocados and the list was too long for me to pick from. So I called my best friend to ask her for her favorite from the list and she said, “I like them plain.” Well, that didn’t help. (Though I can’t disagree with her.) I then called my dad who told me to remind folks to remove the pit before throwing an avocado in a blender as he knows someone who forgot and that wasn’t a pretty scene…

And then I remembered a recipe I snagged off the California Avocado website. A delicious, simple dish that can make a great main course for a light meal or a delicious appetizer. And as barbeque season heats up, a perfect side dish. What I really love about this recipe is that it needs no substitutions, no alterations. It is gluten free as is!

Ingredients

  • 3 ½ lbs. boneless chicken easts, cooked and shredded
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 cupsonions, chopped
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 3 red bell peppers, finely chopped
  • 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 6 avocados

Directions

  1. Toss the chicken with ¼ cup of lemon juice in a large bowl.
  2. Add celery, onions, cilantro, bell pepper, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
  3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  4. Prepare avocado half-shells (I use a small spoon to scoop out most of the avocado).
  5. Add the scooped out avocado to the chicken mixture
  6. Drizzle the remaining lemon juice onto the prepared half-shells to prevent owning and to enhance flavor
  7. Fill the half-shells with the chicken mixture.
  8. Enjoy!

Serves 12

Note: If you use precooked chicken make sure it doesn't have any additives with gluten. Ingredients to avoid: starch, hydrolyzed plant protein, emulsifiers, flavorings, natural flavorings, stabilizers, HVP, TVP