Chicken or fish? It's chicken.

All normal people love meat. If I went to a barbeque and there was no meat, I would say 'Yo Goober! Where's the meat!?' I'm trying to impress people here, Lisa. You don't win friends with salad.

Matt Groenig, The Simpsons

You wondered what to do with the leftover chicken from yesterday, didn't you?

We're going to first make a wet mix that can act as a base for tuna, ham, mustard-potato, and red-potato salad. This keeps fairly well, though not indefinitely, so making enough to last the week should be fine. Making enough to last the month - probably not.

I made my wet mix yesterday while the stock reduced. I knew I'd have leftovers, so while "slaving" over the hot stove, I prepped the wet mix.

Chicken Salad Wet Mix

1/4 ~ 1/4 Med. Yellow Onion, cut in chunks

It depends on whether or not you *really* like onions, and how ripe they are. The riper onions are more pungent.

2 ribs/stalks Celery, chunked

You *did* save the tops and roots from this, and the bits from the onions, right?

1 1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1 tsp. Salt

or more to taste, but I'd wait until it's mixed before adding much more.

1/2 tsp. Black pepper

Or 1/2 tsp. White pepper, if your significant other doesn't like "pepper" in their food.

Food processor or blender

Mixing bowl

Place the onions and celery in the food processor and puree. Press and drain if preferred (reduces the onion taste), then combine with the remaining ingredients in the mixing bowl. Stir well. Place in an airtight container and store in the 'fridge.

Add relish for tuna salad; mustard and boiled egg for potato salad (although I prefer chunks of celery and onion in mine); sour cream, dill, and chives for red-skin potato salad; and honey-mustard for ham salad.

Chicken Salad

1/2 cup Poached chicken, diced or pulled

2 Tbsp Wet Mix

Mixing Bowl

Combine the wet mix and the chicken. Add additional seasonings to taste.

As you can see, I made myself a sandwich. I had some leftover butter/bibb from lettuce wraps I made over the weekend, so I slapped some on a few pieces of Sara Lee's "45 calories and Delightful" wheat bread and made a sandwich. I'd have added some tomatoes, too, if I'd had 'em.

Now get it in yah bellah!

According to myfitnesspal.com, the wet mix has 77 kcal with 1g carbs and 8g fat. My sandwich had 304 kcal with 19g of carbs, 16g of fat, and 24g of protein.

It can be lightened even further by using a lite or low-fat mayonnaise, and/or eliminating the bread and using iceberg or butter lettuce for lettuce wraps.

Cost-wise, it's fairly cheap. The chicken is "free," since you accounted for it in yesterday's pot pie. One onion and two ribs of celery run less than a dollar (unless you buy organic, and then it's your own fault). The only "expensive" ingredients are the half-jar of mayonnaise (smaller jar, obviously) and two slices of bread. Let's say $3 for a batch of wet mix that'll make sixteen (16!) sandwiches or salads.