If I ever go to a restaurant and see something that says Thai peanut chicken anything, that is usually what I will order. I have fallen in love with Thai flavors. Especially peanut Thai flavors. I’m totally that mean mom that doesn’t care when my kids wine every time I say that we are having something Thai for dinner. I make them eat it anyway, because I’m the cook right? That means I get to make what I like. 🙂 And Thai peanut is what I like.
I know I’ve come up with a winner if I make a big batch of something for lunch for the week, and I find myself looking at the clock all morning to see if it’s close enough to lunchtime for me to eat. That’s how this week went with this salad so now I’m sharing the love with you all. Eat it for dinner, take it to work, or take to a get together. It works for it all.
If you are just going to make it for dinner and eat it all at one time, you would just mix everything together at once and serve, but when I make this for work, it’s a little different. I just mix all the veggies together in one container, keep the cooked chicken in another, and the dressing in another. Then I measure out the right amount of each thing each morning, mix it all in one smaller container, and take that to work with me. That way the ingredients stay fresher.
The only real prep you need to do as far as cooking goes for this, is to grill your chicken and let it cool. Also, if you buy edamame still in the pods, you will need to shell those, too.
While the chicken is grilling, you can chop up your veggies and combine them all in a large bowl, and mix up your dressing ingredients in a small bowl. When the chicken is cooked and cooled, add it to the veggie bowl.
Now you are ready to add in the dressing. I have an important trick to share with you that will make or break this salad. Because the broccoli slaw and cauliflower is so hard and crunchy, the salad will turn out the best if you can mix the dressing on it and then let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge or up to 4-5 hours. It gives it enough time for the dressing to soften the veggies a bit and all the flavor to soak into them. Don’t worry, they don’t get soggy, they just get happy. 🙂 I mix mine up and shake it around as I’m leaving to work, and then when I eat lunch about 3-4 hours later, it’s perfect. You end up staring at a beautiful colorful bowl with your mouth watering that looks like this:
I like mine with Sriracha! And maybe a squirt of lime. 🙂
- 1 lb grilled chicken (seasoned with garlic salt and pepper or what ever Asian spices you like)
- 1 bag broccoli slaw (about 5 cups)
- 2 C cauliflower florets cut small
- 4-5 sliced green onions
- 4 oz shelled edamame (I bought the big bag from Costco and used one bag inside)
- 1 oz chopped peanuts
- 1 seeded and sliced jalapeno (optional)
- 2 T natural peanut butter
- zest and juice of 1/2 medium orange (about 1/4 C)
- 1 T brown mustard
- 1/2 T rice vinegar
- 3 T lite soy sauce
- Season and grill chicken until cooked through and let cool.
- Shell edamame if needed.
- Chop remaining veggies and peanuts and mix in a large bowl.
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and add to veggies.
- Mix dressing in a small bowl with a whisk until smooth, then stir into veggies and chicken.
- Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour or up to 4-5 hours before serving.
- If you are going to pack to work everyday, leave dressing separate and mix in with one portion size each morning.
- Optional topping, sriracha sauce, lime juice, cilantro, more peanuts
- Macros: Cal 298, Fat 10, Carbs 17; Protein 33
- Sorry I forgot to weigh it while I was making it, so just weigh the entire bowl, then divide by 4. I like to do the chicken separately so I know I am getting 4 oz of chicken.
Leave a Reply