Thai chicken salad
Thai food is a mixture of bold flavours and an array of colours. Thailand is a very hot, humid country and this fact plays a huge part in the eating habits of the Thai people. The food is generally spicy which encourages your body to sweat. This is the body’s natural way of cooling down. You will also find a combination of sweet, salty, bitter and sour which will accompany the spicy. Our Thai chicken salad is a great example of how to blend and balance these flavours.
This Thai chicken salad is a fantastic way of using up leftover chicken. We’ve bulked up the protein by adding Quinoa which also adds a lovely nutty crunch to the salad. One could add some tin beans for more protein. We forgot to throw over some roasted mixed seeds which would have added to the nutty crunch. Beansprouts, peas, cabbage and radishes would also play very well in this salad.
Serves 2
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Salad
- 1/4 cup Quinoa
- ± 1 cup of shredded rotisserie chicken
- 2 spring onion, julienned
- ±10 leaves of basil, torn
- 1 carrot, finely grated or ribboned
- ±10 cm piece of cucumber, strip peeled, deseeded, cut into half moons
- Half an avocado, sliced
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves or other salad leaves
- A small handful of coriander, separate the leaves from the stalks
Dressing
- 2t apple cider vinegar
- 4t lemon juice
- 2t honey
- 4t fish sauce
- 2t sesame seed oil
- 4t coriander stalks (from above), finely chopped
- 4t fresh mint, finely chopped
- 2 fresh red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped (or 3 for real hot heat)
Instructions
- Wash the Quinoa by putting it into a sieve and allowing cold water to run through while moving it around. Add the Quinoa with 1/2 cup water into a small pot. (Quinoa – 2 part water, 1 part Quinoa). Bring the pot to a boil and add the lid. Turn down to a simmer and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Once finished, fluff the Quinoa with a fork and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Make the dressing by adding all the dressing ingredients together and mix well.
- Throw all your salad ingredients into a large bowl and using your hands carefully mix everything together until combined.
- Arrange on a plate, pour some dressing over the salad and enjoy.
