My Chicken Salad

I like lots of different flavors and textures in my chicken salad. Celery, shallots, apple and cucumber for body, pecans and walnuts for crunch and the sweetness of rasins and apples balanced with a little vinegar.

I usually stuff it into a some Pita bread so I tend to chop everything pretty coarse -- think 1/2" chop -- to maximize how it fills the sandwich. If I were serving as a salad I'd chop closer to 1/4" for a more refined texture. I also don't use much mayonaise -- It's not good for me and I think it masks too many of the other flavors -- but you may want to add more to make it richer. Makes 6-8 pita sandwiches

1 whole roasted chicken - meat removed, chopped and cooled

1 cup mayonaise

2 ribs of celery (chop)

1/2 Granny Smith apple (dice)

1 English cucumber (dice)

1 medium shallot (dice)

1/2 cup toasted pecans (coarse chop)

1/2 cup toasted walnuts (coarse chop

1/2 cup currants or rasins

1 Tbs tarragon (chopped)

1 Tbs apple vinegar

Combine everything in a large bowl and mix gently. It's always better the next day.

Garden Update

The backyard garden is rolling along nicely. We have already enjoyed a couple of English Cucumbers and used some of the cilantro and basil in salsa and salads. There are a couple of zucchini that are ready to pick now too. The tomatos, now taller than their 5' cages, dominate their half herb garden. A few of the Cascade cherry tomatoes are showing enough color that they'll be ready to pick by Friday. There are a couple of zucchini that are ready to pick too. Some of the other squash plants have been a little slow to start and the peppers are still a little small although most of them are showing fruit.

The corn is 4' now with many plants showing tassels and a couple showing their first ears. The runner beans are also growing rapidly and a couple of plants have already reached the top of the 7' trellis.

Above is a picture of the garden the day we planted and below is a pic I took this morning. Looking good for 2 months. Back in Denver we would have planted just last weekend - Fathers Day is the traditional date to absolutely avoid a freeze.

PR - Hunters Point Climb

I set a new personal record (59Min 22Sec) this morning climbing to Hunters Point in the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve.

I have become a little worried about the lack of diversity in my training regimin. I've been logging long hours on the bike and feeling the benefits, but I want to maintain a high level of "whole body" fitness so I cut way back on the cycling milage and instead focused on strength work for three weeks. I like the CrossFit WOD concept so I do them nearly every day now. I built Kathy a 10' slosh-tube which is also a great work-out aid. The last three weeks have been 90% anaerobic with lots of sets to failure.

Two things happened...

I lost 10 lbs.

I PR'd the first time back on the bike.

Probably a combination of newly developed strength and a health appetite for riding after a couple of weeks off.