Thai Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce Recipe
Last weekend, our church had a two day conference that was simply outstanding. After it was over, I left feeling like a better version of myself: humbled, energized, uplifted, happy and ready to conquer the challenges life flings at me. We all need that in our lives every so often, don't we? Sometimes we don't realize how far from our goals we have strayed until we take the time to step aside from the daily madness and re-evaluate exactly where we are.
I had been too busy to completely recognize I wasn't where I wanted to be. Course correction time.
After our conference was over on Sunday evening, I served this gorgeous salad for dinner instead of the normal Sunday fare of roast, potatoes, rolls and dessert. In general, serving a salad as a main dish doesn't go over very well with the Jones kiddos, but when you replace their most sacred meal of the week with one....boy, oh boy! You should have seen the looks and heard the grumblings. However, after actually eating the salad, the response was....(no lie, this is a direct quote)...."If salads always tasted as good as this one, I would eat them all the time!"
This main dish salad was addictive! The last of it was eaten for lunch two days ago and I can't stop thinking about it. Salty, savory, sweet, sour, spicy and completely satisfying. Honestly, salads can't get much better than this one. The fact that it is healthy doesn't even come into your mind because you are too busy shoving it in your pie hole as fast as you can.
My only suggestion for this recipe is to please, please, please don't try to substitute regular cabbage for the napa cabbage. If you have never tried napa cabbage, you are really missing out because it is the perfect balance between cabbage and romaine lettuce. It is like the two mated and had the perfect little leafy baby. And don't worry, if I can get it at my store here in the middle of nowhere Minnesota, I'm sure your grocery store carries it as well.
Thai Chicken Salad
(recipe adapted from Taste and Tell)
serves 8
- Chicken marinade
- 1/2 C vegetable oil
- 2 Tb rice vinegar
- 1/4 C sugar or 2 Tb Truvia
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 lime, juiced
- dash of salt and pepper
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - about 2 1/2 pounds total
- Salad
- 2 hearts of romaine, chopped
- 1/2 large head of napa cabbage, chopped
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 5 green onions, chopped
- 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
- 1 C salted peanuts
- Dressing
- 1/4 C rice vinegar
- 1/4 C Thai sweet red chili sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar or Truvia
- pinch of salt and pepper
- Peanut Sauce
- 1/4 C natural peanut butter
- 2 Tb soy sauce
- 1 Tb rice vinegar
- 1 Tb Thai sweet red chili sauce
- 2 Tb water
1. In a ziplock bag, combine all the ingredients for the chicken marinade. Mush it all around, then place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to marinade. Cook the chicken either on a hot grill, 6-8 minutes a side or in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Allow it to cool a bit, then chop up all the chicken into bite sized pieces.
2. Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, except for the peanuts, then add the chicken. Combine all the dressing ingredients then pour over the salad. Toss until the salad is evenly coated with the dressing. Dish out the individual servings of the salad.
3. Stir together the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a small bowl. If the sauce is too thick to drizzle, add a bit more water. Generously drizzle the peanut sauce over each serving of salad then top with the peanuts.