It’s pecan season here in North Carolina, and no matter how YOU say “pecan” (PEE-can”, “Pa-kawn” or “puh-KAHN”) these tasty little nuts are always best fresh off the tree (or ground.) After a recent visit with my parents, I was thrilled to see their pecan trees were full and ripe pecans were starting to fall. Mom, dad and I gathered a bunch up, went inside and started cracking them open to enjoy. There’s just a deeper, more vibrant nutty taste in the fresh ones versus the store bought pecans. Many great memories were made gathering pecans on a chilly fall afternoon with the autumn sun to warm you up while hunting for them. My son, Ryan, starting helping collect them when he was about 5 years old and enjoyed it. Heck, we’ve even had a few dogs that discovered how tasty these little tree treasure nuggets were. Luke and Lucy would lay under the oldest pecan tree and crack them open with their teeth and take pleasure in the delicious nutty morsel.
During the fall, I find many ways to enjoy fresh pecans, and one way is to add them to a delicious chicken salad. My Pecan Chicken Salad is easy to put together when starting with a rotisserie chicken and adding some healthy foods such as celery, grapes, red onions and of course, pecans. Along with some flavorful spices like turmeric, cumin and oregano, this pecan chicken salad makes a great lunch or easy dinner option.