This salad is awesome as a meal because it just combines everything in one pot. It's a great luncheon salad for the same reason. This is one of my new favorites and I think I'll be making it a lot this summer because I love cold meals on hot days! All you vegetarians out there, just skip the chicken and you've got a nice hearty meal. Thanks to Sara at Our Best Bites for sharing!
Ingredients:8 oz Linguine Fini (or regular linguine)
4 C shredded greens: any combo of napa cabbage, romaine lettuce or even spinach
2 C thinly sliced purple cabbage
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, julienned
1/2 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
3 C diced grilled chicken
honey roasted peanuts (about 1/2 cup)
Thai Peanut Dressing (see below for recipe)
Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil. Add a spoonful of salt and then add your pasta. While pasta is cooking, start chopping those veggies.
You can really use any mix of veggies you want. Whenever I make this type of salad I pick the vegetables purely based on color so I can have something in every shade of the rainbow :) I think it makes for a happy salad and happy salad makes happy people. But use what you like, pretty much anything slathered in this dressing is going to taste good. For me, it's this stuff:
See, happy right?? I mentioned you can play around with the leafy greens. I like to use both napa cabbage and romaine lettuce. If you're eating this right away lettuce works great, and spinach is even good in there. However, if you're taking it to a picnic, or serving it on a buffet or anything like that where it will sit a while, I recommend going heavy on the cabbage because it will stay nice and crunchy for ya.
As soon as your pasta is done drain it and run some cold water over it until it's cool. If you're not going to use it right away, add a drizzle of the salad dressing and stir to coat. This will prevent the noodles from getting all clumpy. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
When you're ready to assemble the salad, place noodles, veggies, and chicken in a large bowl.
Sprinkle peanuts on top and garnish with some cilantro if you want. And there you have one happy, pretty, and extremely delicious salad!
Ok, here's the recipe for the Thai Peanut Dressing - it's so delicious and worth the few steps it takes to make it!
1/2 C peanut butter
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 1/2 t sesame oil
1 T seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
3 T honey
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 T minced ginger
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro (stems and all)
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 t kosher salt*
2-3 t sriracha chili sauce*
2-4 T water*
*The need for salt may differ depending on the brand of PB you use. Taste first and then add.
*I use 3 t Sriaracha, but you may want more or less depending on your preference of heat levels. Again, taste first and then add.
*Lastly, the addition of the water is purely for consistency which again, depends on the PB brand you use. Add water until you get the consistency you want, or leave it out completely.
Place everything in a blender and mix until smooth.
Makes about 2 cups.
Makes about 2 cups.
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