Chicken Salad or Ensalada de Gallina a la Venezolana

This recipe is high in calories and carbohydrates, but as I always tell people, once in a while is OK to pamper yourself with comfort food, usually we do this salad with hen, but here in Washington we can't find hen, so chicken will be for this time, also some people boiled the whole hen or chicken, I am more practical, I will use clean, easy, chicken breast.

You need;

• 4 chicken breast, 6 cup of water and 2 spoons of salt to cook the breast
• 1 medium size onion cut in two
• 1 kg (2 lb.) of potato chopped like cubes, and  6 cups of water and 2-1/2 teaspoon of salt to cook the potatoes.
• 1 carrot peeled, chopped like cubes, you can cook it in the same water that you cooked the potatoes. 
• 2 cups of green peas.
• 1 apple peeled and chopped in small pieces.
• ½ cup of olive oil.
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper.
•  Salt to taste.
• ¼ cup of apple vinegar.
• 2 teaspoon of mustard.
• 2- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or honey.
• 1- 1/2  cup of mayonnaise.
• 1 cup of raisins (if you like it)

What to do;

•   In a sauce pan put the chicken breast, water, salt, and the onion. Boil and cook for ½ hour. Remove from the fire and let the pot get cold before opening. Take the chicken out and let it cool, set aside.
• In another pot put the 8 cups of chopped potatoes with water and salt. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until are soft but firm. Remove the potatoes with a strainer spoon and let it cool, set aside. In the same pot, put the carrot. Cook for 15 minutes; remove all water and set apart.
• Cut the chicken in very small pieces with your hands (very small).
• In a big bowl and with a wooden scoop mix the chicken, the potatoes, the carrots, 1 cup of green peas, apples and raisins
• Prepare the vinaigrette mixing in a bowl the onion, the vinegar, the mustard, the sugar, the salt and black pepper.
• Add the vinaigrette to the bowl with the chicken and the cooked veggies.  Remove slowly with the wooden scoop. Add the mayonnaise.  Remove slowly until everything has mayonnaise.
• Put the salad in the display tray.  Even the salad, to make flat the top. Decorate the salad with some parsley and green peas.
• Some people put in the refrigerator for couples hours and serve it cold, I like my room temperature, if you have leftovers, make sure to put in the refrigerator.

Is seems like a lot of work, but is a tradition in Venezuela for the holidays, many families add boiled eggs or olives.

That is all, now a comer;  BTW you can serve 6 hungry friends.