Chopped Thai Salad

I hate shredding vegetables. I do an excellent job of shredding my knuckles when I do. I have purchased one of those Kevlar gloves, but in reality, I just use my mini chopper when shredding is required.

I love Thai food, but we never as a family seem to get to Thai restaurants; I think the last time I had Thai food was when I was in labor with my now 7.5 year old. I really need to get on that!  When this popped into my Pinterest feed, it was really a no-brainer. Healthy, fast (weeknights have been insane with my having gone back to school in January), and all the trappings of delicious.

I rushed home after work and threw this together while my husband picked up the kids from school. All told, it probably took me 20 minutes, maybe 30, but only because my cabbage would not cooperate with being cut in half. I was really wishing I had bought coleslaw mix, with the cabbage and carrots already shredded, but it wasn't bad to take care of and certainly less expensive to do it myself.

My husband and I enjoyed this, and he even enthusiastically packed it up for our lunches today. I was concerned (I ate before the rest of the family) that it wasn't enough food, so I took an uber small portion and was quite hungry about 2 hours later, but the others had plenty.

The boys gave it mixed reviews, but my 4 year old has really only been eating tried and true favorites lately, so there's been a lot of skipping for him.

I omitted peanuts simply because I didn't have any. I think they would have jazzed things up a bit, but my husband said they wouldn't have been good in the salad.

Chopped Thai Salad via Pinch of Yum

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 small head green or white cabbage (2 cups chopped)
• 1 large carrot (1½ cups shredded)
• 1 small papaya, chopped
• ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• ½ cup green onions, chopped
• ½ cup chopped peanuts

Dressing

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon fish sauce
• ¼ cup peanut butter
• ¼ cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook and cube your chicken into bite sized pieces. I love this method.
2.  Toss the chicken and vegetables in a large bowl and keep chilled.
3. Mince the garlic in a small mixing bowl with the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, lime juice, oil, and fish sauce. Whisk until smooth. Add the peanut butter and water and whisk again until smooth and creamy.
4. Toss the salad with the dressing. Add the crushed peanuts. Serve chilled. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to one day. For best results, keep the leftover salad and dressing separate until ready to serve.