Asian Chicken Salad

Another chicken salad tonight for dinner? Yes!  I found this recipe through the tastespotting website (such a good resource if you haven't seen it yet).  The blog is from Donal Skehan, an irish blogger, photographer and cook.   He has beautiful pics, go check him out:)

Begin by gathering the ingredients to make marinade and dressing.  I use a produce bag for all the waste scraps, making cleanup much easier.

The chicken marinades while you assemble the salad, so get that together first, place the chicken in and set aside for about 20 minutes.  Finish the dressing, stir well and refrigerate til the salad is ready.  This salad has Napa Cabbage which you want to slice very thin.  Cut carrots into match sticks and cut sugar snap peas on an angle.

I'm grilling my chicken with a grill pan.  Brush it with canola oil and heat to medium high.  You know it's hot enough when a drop of water pops on the pan.  If your pan is too cold the chicken won't brown and it'll be very dry, but at the right temp it'll be moist inside and have lovely grill marks.

You can tell when it's ready to turn over when it releases easily from the pan, look at those grill marks:)

Remove to a plate and let it rest a minute or two before chopping it up.  Layer your salad with cabbage, carrots and peas on the bottom, a little dressing, chicken, chopped peanuts and chopped cilantro on top...yum!


Asian Chicken Salad
adapted from Donal Skehan

Marinade:
2 T soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red chili, minced
1/2 thumb ginger, minced

Dressing:
3 T canola oil
1 T soy sauce
1 T peanut butter
juice of 1/2 lime
2 t honey
1 t sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red chili, minced
1/2 thumb ginger, minced

Salad:
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 head napa cabbage, washed and shredded
3 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 c sugar snap peas, cut at angle
1/2 c peanuts, chopped
garnish with chopped cilantro

Combine ingredients for the marinade in a medium bowl and marinate the chicken while you prep and assemble the dressing and salad.  Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl (I double this recipe) and stir well.  Refrigerate til ready to use.  Prep salad ingredients and toss in a large bowl, refrigerate.  Chop peanuts and cilantro and place in 2 small bowls, set aside.  Heat grill pan on stove top over medium-high heat, brush with canola oil.  Grill chicken 3-4 minutes on each side, or til cooked through, rest on a platter for a few minutes before chopping for salad.  Layer cabbage, carrots, peas, dressing, chicken, peanuts and cilantro and enjoy!