Thanksgiving in October

When Keystone Meats sent me several cans of their products to play with, the temps were still in the upper 70s and low 80s, yet it was already October. I really wanted to do something with pumpkin, like a nice curried soup, but I was also in the mood for an easy chicken salad. The best solution seemed to do both. And to make the chicken salad a more seasonable companion to the soup, I thought it might be nice to add some Thanksgiving-ish flavors to it. Sage and cranberries made the most sense to me, as stuffing and cranberry sauce are two of my favorite sides and are both essential elements in the traditional post-dinner turkey sandwich.

If you'd rather crack open a can of cranberry sauce and add that to the dressing instead of dried cranberries, be my guest! Some chopped walnuts would be nice in the salad, too.

Thanksgiving Chicken (or Turkey) Salad

1 teaspoon dried sage or 4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
2 heaped tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chopped scallion
1 tablespoon finely diced celery + 1 tablespoon chopped celery leaves
1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
1 14.5-ounce can Keystone All-Natural Chicken or Turkey, drained
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 slices of your favorite hearty bread, lightly toasted, per sandwich

Combine first seven ingredients in a bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Pile onto bread and serve.

Makes 2-3 sandwiches.

Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2 cup coconut milk + 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons curry powder (I like The Spice House or Penzey's)
Salt and ground white pepper
Maple syrup

Combine stock, pumpkin, 1/2 cup coconut milk, and curry powder in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Cook 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Add a teaspoon or so of maple syrup to balance the curry flavoring, but not enough to make the soup sweet (unless you want sweet soup!)

Pour into bowls and garnish with a bit of the extra coconut milk. I put a pinch of fresh thyme on top, too, because our thyme plant is out of control.

Serves 2-3

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Posted on Minxeats.com.