Kicked up Chicken Salad
I hope that someone noticed and was sad You may have noticed that I haven’t posted many recipes lately. I do have a good reason for this and don’t worry, it’s not going to be a regular occurence! I was actually working hard on a personalized recipe planning project that I auctioned off in Angela’s Oh She Glows contest. It was so fun learning about someone’s specific goals and designing recipes to meet them. It was also a lot of work on top of the recipe development I needed to do for class!
But despite testing recipes almost every night for the past two weeks, I still have been getting ready to cook for my family camping trip this weekend. I’ll be making:
- Chicken Shawarma with Green Beans and Zucchini
- Cannelini Beans with Tomatoes (I lost the recipe link for now)
- A surprise dessert for my brother that I’ll hopefully be writing up after the trip
I’ll be doing much of this over the next day or so in order to not have to do too much cooking while we’re camping. Don’t worry though…I definitely ate cereal for dinner last night!
I’ve felt stingey for not sharing some of my recipes with you yet, so hopefully this one will make up for it. It’s super easy and if I do say so myself the dressing is the crowning glory.
Asian Chicken Salad with Spicy Almond Butter Dressing
Serves 4
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp coconut oil
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 head cabbage
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 1 inch piece ginger root, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp chili paste
1/2 cup almond butter
1 tsp honey
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1. Place chicken breast halves in a ziploc bag. Using a mallet or heavy skillet, pound each breast until it’s about 1/2 inch thick. Remove from bag and coat with coconut oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.
2. Heat a medium cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sear chicken breast on each side. Then cover, reduce heat, and allow chicken to cook through until no longer pink in the center (start checking after about 8 minutes).
3. In the meantime, cut the cabbage in quarters. Core each piece by cutting into the bottom-middle portion at a 45 degree angle. Then turn cabbage piece horizontally to you and run your knife through it to create a “shredded” effect. Place cabbage in a bowl with red peppers and cucumbers.
4. Combine remaining ingredients (ginger root through lime juice) in the base of a blender. Blend together at high speed until smooth. Add water if needed for texture. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
5. Once chicken is done remove from pan, let cool slightly, then slice in to 1/4 inch thick pieces at an angle. Top cabbage mixture with chicken and almond butter dressing and serve.
