Thai Chicken Salad
Major inspo from CPK on this one right here! Every time I go to to California Pizza Kitchen I get their asian chicken salad. So I recreated it in my own way and don't think I've ever created a more tasty salad before. I tossed a ton of veggies with peanuts, cilantro, and a yummy peanut butter dressing. I seriously look forward to eating lunch when I have this in my fridge!
Aside from the dressing, the thing I love most about this salad is the huge mix of veggies involved. Red peppers, green leaf lettuce, cabbage and carrots. I feel so healthy and like I am getting so many vitamins in with all these! It's a nice change up from a spinach or romaine salad and has so much flavor.
But the true star of this salad: the peanut butter dressing. The base is made with natural creamy peanut butter and then some. I love this because 1) I love peanut butter and 2) peanut butter is a great healthy fat to eat.
I use one chicken breast, cut in half and boiled for this recipe. Use as much chicken as you want to. You can easily assemble the other salad ingredients while the chicken is cooking.
I like to mix the veggies and toppings up and store them in a bag with the dressing on the side. This way you can munch on it all week long and it can be meal prepped easily. I think adding things like avocado, edamame, or crispy wonton strips would take it to the next level and be sooo good! I hope this one becomes a regular for your weekday lunches.
Thai Chicken Salad
A super veggie blend tossed with cilantro, peanuts, chicken and a peanut butter dressing.
1-2 chicken breast
3 cups green leaf lettuce
2 cups cabbage mix
2 large carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 cup chopped cilantro
3/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional )
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the chicken. Boil until cooked through. Remove from water and let cool. Shred chicken, salt and pepper.
In a small bowl whisk together the peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, ginger, garlic powder, and sesame oil. Set aside
Rinse and dry the lettuce, carrots, and bell pepper. Chop the lettuce, discarding the end. Peel both carrots to remove the outside skin, then with the peeler shave the carrots to create thin strips. Remove the inside of the bell pepper and slice thinly. Chop both the peanuts and cilantro.
In a large bowl, toss all vegetables together. Add in shredded chicken, peanuts, and cilantro. Pour dressing over or save on the side. Top with sesame seeds.
