foodaccordingtoemily

Grapefruit and Chicken Thai Style Salad

Salads are a popular dinner in our house. Usually it is a typical tossed salad – lettuce and whatever random veggies I have chopped or shredded as mix-ins, a sprinkle of cheese, seeds or nuts and topped with a light dressing often of oil and balsamic vinegar, or Italian for my husband. Lately, however, I’ve had an interest in mixing things up and bringing together new flavors in the salad bowl.

Last weekend we went to a restaurant in Minneapolis where we had never eaten before and ordered the spring roll. Unlike many I’ve had before with shrimp, this was a vegetarian one, and when it came out, it was about twice the size of most spring rolls I’ve had. Filled to the brim with lettuce and other veggies, my husband and I agreed it was almost more like a salad in a sheet of rice paper, not a bad idea actually. That got me thinking I’d really like to make some sort of Asian inspired salads, so when the greens start growing in the garden this summer, I’ll have a few salad options up my sleeve.

Enter the Wedge Co-op and their handy “What’s for Supper?” recipe cards! A few weeks ago I had picked up one for a Grapefruit and Chicken Thai Style Salad and knowing I had most of the ingredients, I decided it was a good option for dinner last night.

With no further ado, here is the recipe:

• 1 tsp dried ground ginger
• 1 tsp dried ground coriander
• 1 tsp dried ground mustard
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp Sucanat® or brown sugar, divided
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh cut into strips
• 1 grapefruit
• 1/3 c peanut butter
• 3 Tbsp tamari (regular or wheat-free)
• ¼-½ tsp Sriracha or other hot sauce
• 1 head lettuce, chopped
• ¼ c roasted peanuts
• ¼ c finely sliced scallions
• OPTION: ½ c cilantro leaves

1.  In a large bowl, combine the ginger, coriander, mustard, salt and ½ tsp. of the Sucanat® or sugar. Mix well. Add the chicken strips and toss well to coat.

2.  Broil the spice-coated chicken strips for ~5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

3.  Section the grapefruit and set fruit aside. Squeeze the remainder into a small bowl until you have 3-4 Tbsp juice.

4.  In a small mixing bowl, combine 3 Tbsp of the grapefruit juice with the peanut butter, tamari, 1½ tsp. Sucanat® or brown sugar and Sriracha or other hot sauce. Mix well until smooth.

5.  Arrange lettuce on plates. Top with chicken, grapefruit sections, peanuts and scallions. Pour dressing over the salads and top with cilantro, if using.

MY NOTES: I LOVE peanut based dressings and sauces, so this was a winner in that category for sure. The chicken was perfectly flavored with these spices and it is super fast with the cooking (just five minutes, once the oven is heated of course). My husband was a taste tester for me and agreed the flavors blended really well together, save one – neither of us liked the pieces of grapefruit in the salad and I will definitely not include them in the future. If you didn’t want to get a grapefruit just for the juice, I think you could easily substitute lemon or lime juice in the sauce. Also, the dressing would probably be better with creamy, but I only had chunky peanut butter, and I probably could have skipped the roasted peanuts on top since it was kind of the same thing. For a vegetarian version, this would likely be very good with “mock duck,” though I would not recommend tofu, unless you’re very good at cooking with it.

April 1, 2012 at 9:30 am 1 comment