Thursday, January 8, 2009

Thai Chicken Salad


I never liked those traditional chicken salads. They always were drowning in mayo and the chicken never had any flavor because it was poached. Yuck! However, I was so impressed with how well the flavors combined in my crab cakes, I decided to try something like this with chicken salad. It was AMAZING! So flavorful and fresh! My fiance' and I practically ate the whole thing with pita chips. I barely put any mayo in it so it really wasn't very bad for me. I still have some Greek chicken left over, so I just took the skin off of the chicken breast and used that.

Now, there is one little pain in the butt about this salad: the veggies must be cut really small. This is where your knife skills come in really handy. I came up with a few easy ways to chop the vegetables to make them small and most importantly get it done fast!

*Clearly you can tell from this blog that I am no longer in my vegetarian mode. However, I will try to make this dish with firm tofu next time. The chicken really didn't give it that much flavor, more texture if anything. Plus, the protein in tofu is much better!*


Thai Chicken Salad

1 chicken breast (grilled, leftover, rotisserie, poached etc)
1/2 red onion, small dice
1 small red pepper, small dice
1 small yellow pepper, small dice
1 handful cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon chili garlic paste
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste


1. Chop up all your veggies.
Here is the best way to chop any type of pepper.
-Make sure that you flatten out the pepper with the back of your knife. The flatter it is, the easier it will be to make nice thin

-Slice nice thin strips.

-Turn the strips the other way and cut into dice.

There! Now we can move onto step 2.
2. Chop your chicken finely. Slice it in half first so that it is thin and then repeat the same steps as above to get the chicken small.
3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
4. Season to taste and serve with your favorite roll, chips or crackers!

*See this stuff is good even our kitty Mika wants some :) *

10 comments:

Snow White said...

How did I miss this??? Must have been commenting on your banana cakes. I LOVE the cat in the photo! Mine is gray as well and has his nose in everything. I am in total agreement with you on chicken salads...too much mayo and chicken sans flavor. I started substituting mayo with just a small spoonful of the stuff, add olive oil and some plain yogurt (not low fat however otherwise the flavor is too low cal). Can hardly wait to try this one as well. Awesome blog and by the way, I found you via Foodie blog roll.

Ciao ciao

Unknown said...

this is a great recipe... thanks for sharing... :)

Maria said...

love the looks of this recipe! Cute cat too!

Denise Clarke said...

Sounds yummy and a great way to use the chicken left overs!

Denise
http://WineFoodPairing.blogspot.com

Stacey Snacks said...

I love chicken salad and make so many different types.
This one looks different and I will try it!
Stacey Snacks

Pam said...

I love this recipe - simple but full of flavor. Looking forward to making this one.

Mila said...

Thanks for all the great comments!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Wow, what a great recipe. I love chicken salad and this really steps it up a notch. Just found your site on the Foodie Blog Roll widget. I love it and plan to come back.

kristie m said...

I'm doing Atkins (struggling to get back on it, actually, after the holidays) and searching for good, low carb recipes to keep from getting bored with the food. This looks like a great one to add to my list of recipes. I love that combination of Thai flavorings but never thought to make it into a chicken salad. I think I'll add some fresh mint and some chopped Thai chili (to make it hotter) and serve it in lettuce cups.

Thanks for the great idea, Mila!

kristie m said...

(Oh I'll probably add some chopped peanuts, too! YUM!)