Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad

I know that it seems like I’ll never stop posting about the meal I made when friends Lisa, Doug & Briana came to visit, eat and play almost two weeks ago.  I’m telling you the food was delicious, Grilled Thai Chicken and it’s perfect complement, Thai Cucumber Salad with cukes fresh picked from the garden.  Then to satisfy my rib cravings, Chili Maple Mustard Ribs and my still un-posted chocolate dessert recipe which will post on Monday, July 9 as my Secret Recipe Club entry, well the meal all around was just delicious.  I did have quite the leftovers though and I easily froze the ribs but with the Grilled Thai Chicken I decided to make it into a curried chicken salad using flavors to compliment the marinade already grilled onto the chicken while using ingredients I had already in my pantry.  I made the recipe up as I went along but I’m so pleased that I had the sense to write it down as I went along as this chicken was absolutely wonderful and a huge hit with both Eammon and I.  I know that I’ll be making this salad again even using plain grilled chicken breasts if I don’t have leftover Grilled Thai Chicken breasts because this salad was the bomb!

I would have had this recipe posted sooner but between Maisie’s always busy schedule and the fact that I have been suffering with a major sinus infection and a wicked ~going on five days already~ migraine, well just staying up and out of bed with my eyes open is a huge accomplishment for the day when I can do it…but trust me, this recipe was worth the wait and I hope that you’ll give it a try.

Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad 

• 3-4 leftover Grilled Thai Chicken breasts, small dice (or leftover grilled skinless, boneless chicken breasts)
• 1/2 c. Hellmann’s real mayonnaise 
• 1/2 c. sour cream (I prefer Breakstone Sour Cream)
• 2 TBS. Major Grey chutney 
• 1 TBS. Jamaican curry powder 
• 1 Granny Smith apple, small dice
• 1/4 c. golden raisins 
• 2 TBS. finely minced cilantro
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds, toasted
• 2 TBS. unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted

In a large bowl mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chutney & curry powder.  Add the diced chicken, diced apple, raisins & cilantro.  Using a large spoon, mix everything together until well blended.  Top the chicken salad with the toasted almonds and Coconut.  For myself, I served the chicken salad on full leaves of romaine lettuce so that the whole thing could be rolled into a little wrap.  For Eammon I took the entire serving above, lettuce and all and put it onto some toasted multi-grain bread and he enjoyed it as a sandwich.  So many options and all delicious.

Enjoy!

Thai Cucumber Salad

It’s that time of year again when our garden is busting with cucumbers so I’m once again on the lookout for delicious ways to enjoy our bounty.  Last summer my absolute favorite way to enjoy the cucumbers was my Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad and though I know that I’ll be making that salad many times this summer I decided to try a new salad this year with our first harvest.  I was reading Roz’s blog la bella vita and she had a recipe for a Thai Cucumber Salad which really caught my attention so with my first cucumber harvest of the season I present my version of Roz’s salad which was wonderfully delicious and going into the cucumber salad rotation for future harvests.  

Thai Cucumber Salad (adapted from here)

• 5 cucumbers, seeded (you can also peel them if you like)
• 2 medium red onions
• 4 Thai red chilies, minced (I left the seeds in for the heat but they can be removed)
• 1 large bunch cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

• 3 TBS. peanut oil 
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 
• 2 TBS. soy sauce 
• 3 TBS. Thai garlic chili pepper sauce (this is not HOT sauce at all)
• the zest and juice of 4 fresh limes
• 1/4 cup Whey Low Gold (or palm sugar or brown sugar)
• 3 TBS Thai Fish Sauce 
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Using a mandolin or food processor, thinly slice the cucumber and the onions and add to a large bowl.  Slice the Thai red chilies into rings, leaving in the seeds for extra heat and add to the cucumber & onions.  Chop a bunch of cilantro and also add to the bowl. 

In a separate bowl mix together the dressing ingredients and then pour over the cucumber mixture and stir to coat.  Put the entire mixture in a Ziploc bag and allow to marinate overnight.  This easily keeps in the refrigerator for a good week…if it lasts that long.

Enjoy!

Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad

I was very excited this month when I received my Secret Recipe Club assignment as I was assigned Amy’s A Little Nosh, a blog which I have followed for a long time and one where, when I have my act together, I participate in her weekly Tastetastic Thursday blog hop.  Since I’ve been a long time reader of Amy’s blog it didn’t take me ages and ages to find a recipe that I wanted to make as I already had a few of hers saved in my “need to make” file.  For some reason most of the recipes included using chicken like her Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs, Sweet and Sour Chicken and the one I chose to make, Amy’s Chicken Salad.  Part of the reason I chose Amy’s Chicken Salad was, I was asked by Maisie’s gym to make lunch for the judges at a gymnastics meet the gym was hosting and they happened to request chicken salad on croissants so what better time to try out a new recipe.

One thing that I really liked about Amy’s recipe was that she made it sound adaptable to whatever added ingredients you’d choose to include.  I have to say that this chicken salad was the hands down best chicken salad I’ve ever eaten and it only got better the second day once all the flavors really came together.   I really loved the sweet little bites of apple and cranberry and the little added cinnamon crunch of the cashews was always a nice surprise.  The combination of yogurts, sour cream & mayonnaise gave a creamy richness and because I used some honey yogurt, just a touch of sweetness.  This is now my go-to chicken salad recipe and I know that this summer it will be served time and time again in wraps, sandwiches and atop salads.

Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad (Adapted from here) 

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless white meat “Rotisserie” Chicken, cut or pulled into small bite-size chunks
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries 
• 1 large Fuji apple, peeled, seeded & cut into 1/8-inch dice
• 1 cup coarsely chopped cinnamon cashews
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds 
• 6 oz. plain Greek yogurt
• 6 oz. honey Greek yogurt
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 8 oz. Hellmann’s real mayonnaise 

In a large bowl mix the yogurts, sour cream and mayonnaise together.  Add the chicken, dried cranberries, apple, cinnamon cashews and poppy seeds and mix together.  Enjoy immediately or for even better flavor, cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Enjoy!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts:

Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

This is my fifth month participating in the Improv Cooking Challenge which is hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker.  As always I looked forward to participating and finding or coming up with a great recipe which included the two theme ingredients.  This month the participating bloggers were asked to make any recipe of their choosing using the two given ingredients of ginger and carrots.  At first I was going to make a soup, being that it’s winter…supposedly…as our temperatures had been balmy and gorgeous…well until this past week when we hit the deep freeze…but even so, I decided to make something light, healthy and fresh, thus my Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing.  I loved this salad so much and as I had plenty of dressing, I ended up eating it for lunch five days in a row,.

This Carrot Ginger Dressing is very similar to what is served in Japanese restaurants so if you enjoy it out I’d suggest making it at home as it’s super simple and it keeps in the fridge for about a week.

My previous Improv Cooking Challenge entries:

January 2012 Lemon & Sour Cream:  Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart 
December 2011 Eggnog & Cranberries:  Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter 
November 2011 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese:  Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake 
October 2011 Caramel & Apples:  Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies 

Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

raw shrimp, peeled & deveined, tail left on
Shichimi togarashi
chia seeds
baby salad greens
avocado, peeled & sliced
tomato, sliced
carrot, julienned

Dry the shrimp well and then lightly sprinkle with the Shichimi togarashi and chia seeds.  Cook the shrimp under the broiler or in a lightly oiled hot pan until they are opaque and just cooked through.  Arrange the salad greens, avocado, tomato, cooked shrimp and carrots on a plate and drizzle on the Carrot Ginger Dressing.

 

Carrot Ginger Dressing

1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 TBS. chopped peeled fresh ginger
fruit pulp from 1/2 of a lemon
1 TBS. ketchup
1/4 tsp. Shichimi togarashi 
2 TBS. water
1/2 cup Grapeseed oil

Put all the dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about a week.

Enjoy!

Texas Chicken Sandwich

Back in early December I posted my Secret Recipe Club entry of Texas Chicken with Lime Butter and I raved about the recipe.  We enjoyed that recipe so much that I made it again…twice.  First I made it just as written and then I decided that the marinade and lime butter sauce would be awesome on pork so I used the same recipe on a pork loin which I served on Christmas Eve to rave reviews.  If you haven’t yet tried this Texas Chicken recipe, you’re missing out and you need to do it!

With some of our leftover chicken I made delicious sandwiches.

Such a wonderful and delicious way to enjoy leftovers from our great dinner of Texas Chicken with Lime Butter.

Spread the lime butter on a roll and grill until golden.

Add some spring mix greens.

Top the greens with warm sliced Texas Chicken.

Followed by slices of cool creamy avocado.  Deliciousness on a toasty bun, YUM!

Enjoy!

Southwest Pasta Salad

I was asked to prepared the meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner for all the home & visiting team Coaches as well as the Judges for today’s Metro Retro Meet at Maisie’s gym.  I decided that lunch would include my Fire Roasted Tomato and Chicken Tortilla Soup with homemade tortilla strips, a fresh garden salad with a copycat of Chili’s Honey Lime Dressing* and a pasta salad.  I am not a big pasta eater and I generally find pasta salads, well…just boring and blah.  So, I set out and searched the internet looking for something that I thought would complement the flavor profile of the soup and salad and also be kick @ss wonderful. 

I have to say, I found that absolutely kick @ss wonderful pasta salad recipe on Our Best Bites and it’s their Southwest Pasta Salad.  Both my test taster Lisa and I thought that the flavors were just wonderful and the salad was oh-so simple to make.  The Judges and Coaches all really liked the pasta salad as well as all the other lunch items too.  I stayed pretty true to the original recipe with just a couple of minor changes so now, no more boring and blah pasta salads in this house as this recipe is a keeper!   

Southwest Pasta Salad (Adapted from here)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb pasta
1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 each, medium yellow, red and orange bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup frozen fresh corn
zest from 2 limes, minced
1/2 cup Queso Fresco, crumbled

Dressing:
6 TBS fresh lime juice (about 3 juicy limes)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
5 large cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp dark chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander 
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
3 tsp sugar (add a touch more if your limes are extra sour/bitter)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Directions:

Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions. 

While the past is cooking, prepare dressing. Zest the limes directly into a large salad bowl.  Juice the limes into a blender and add the vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and sugar.  Process until smooth.  With the motor running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream until incorporated.  Add the cilantro and pulse so it gets broken up, but some pieces still remain in tact.

When pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse immediately with cold water to cool.  Place the pasta in the large salad bowl with the lime zest.  Add black beans, tomatoes, diced pepper, green onions, corn (no need to thaw the corn).  Toss with dressing.  Taste and add additional salt and pepper to taste.  For best results, chill for 1 hour before serving.  Right before serving mix in the crumbled cheese.  Serve with extra lime wedges if desired.

*  Chili’s Honey Lime Dressing

1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
3 Teaspoon sugar
2 Teaspoon sesame oil
3 Teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 Teaspoon lime juice

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Cover and chill.

Enjoy!

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad

Just like last summer our garden is producing cucumbers at an amazing pace so I’m always interested in new ways to prepare them.  When I saw a recipe on Cooking with K for a Spicy Asian Cucumbers Salad I knew that it would be a good one for us.  Eammon and I both really enjoyed this preparation, so-much-so that the very first night we ate the entire recipe and I immediately made a second batch.  I used red Thai chili peppers and they gave the salad quite a kick which we both loved but if you’re not into spicy as much, cut down, cut out or use a pepper which isn’t quite as hot.

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad (adapted from here)

3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Whey Low Granular or sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 medium Vidalia onion, halved and then thinly sliced
2 fresh red Thai chili peppers, sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

In a large bowl stir together rice vinegar, water, sugar, soy sauce, salt & sesame oil. Add cucumbers, onions and Thai chili peppers tossing to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Add sesame seeds and toss. Chill to let the flavors blend.  Stays for a week in the fridge…if it remains uneaten that long.

Enjoy!

Fig and Watermelon Salad

This time of year my neighbor’s tree is bursting with ripe, sweet, delicious figs so I’m always looking for ways to incorporate them into my meals.  Unfortunately neither Eammon nor Maisie care for the figs so “poor little me” is left to eat them all by myself.  What’s wonderful about not having to share the figs is that I don’t have to worry about what I combine them with and other people’s likes and dislikes.  In our house when comes to using figs it’s all about me and what I enjoy.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy figs is fresh from the tree topped with a bit of chèvre and drizzled with a balsamic syrup so when I saw a recipe for a Fig & Watermelon Salad on Lisa’s Authentic Suburban Gourmet I knew immediately that I would be making, eating and enjoying it…and ASAP.  Since I had already used up our first watermelon of the season from our garden making Watermelon Frosty drinks and Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho I patiently (yeah right as I checked the melons twice daily) waited for another melon to ripen.  Once it did I picked that 25 pound baby and while it was still warm from the sun, I sliced it open and made this salad.  I will say that I enjoyed the salad more when I made it the second day and the melon was chilled but I would eat it with warm melon again, any day, as this salad was off-the-charts wonderful.  

I changed the recipe very little from the original, not because I didn’t like anything but because I wanted to use what I had in the house.  So for this salad I used Vidalia instead of red onions and chèvre in lieu of Feta but I know that the salad would have been equally as good had I gone the other way.  Also just to up the fig factor instead of plain balsamic vinegar in the vinaigrette I used an orange & fig balsamic vinegar that I had picked up a ways back at World Market but had yet to use. 

I did question the addition of the mint but as I had it in the garden I went with it and it added great flavor to the salad.  With this salad I loved the contrast of the peppery arugula with the creaminess of the chèvre with the added sweetness of the melon & figs, just perfect.  The contrast in texture was wonderful too, the crisp watermelon & onion, the soft figs and cheese, well it’s just a wonderful salad all around.

Fig & Watermelon Salad (adapted from here)

6 cups arugula
12 figs, halved
2 cups one-inch watermelon cubes
1/2 medium Vidalia onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup chèvre, crumbled
6 mint leaves, chiffonade

Balsamic Dressing
2 TBS orange & fig balsamic vinegar, or my other favorite fig balsamic vinegar or regular balsamic vinegar
6 TBS olive oil
2 TBS Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all the dressing ingredients to a small glass jar with lid and shake well until combined.

To assemble the salad, add all of the salad ingredients to a platter and drizzle on the dressing for a beautiful presentation. 

Enjoy!!

Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad

This is one of my favorite salads and all summer long it can be found in my refrigerator as we never seem to tire of it.

I’d have to say that this salad is the first one I think to make when we start harvesting veggies from our garden.  I always make the large batch as listed below and we enjoy it for days but the recipe is easily scaled up or down to fit any ones needs.  Truthfully some days I eat this salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner as it’s healthy, not too high in calories or sugar and has a good amount of protein from the shrimp.  I think that the salad gets better a few days in because the avocado sort of melts and adds a nice extra richness.  What I generally do, is after a day or two when I notice that there’s no longer any avocado chunks, I’ll dice up another one and add it to the salad as the creamy avocado chunks are one of my favorite parts.  I hope that you’ll make and enjoy this salad and that it becomes a favorite in your home too.   

Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad

2 lbs small, medium or large (not the tiny salad shrimp) cooked shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tail removed
3 lbs Mango Salsa with Peach (or fruit salsa of your choice)
3 – 4 large plum tomatoes, diced
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
3 avocados, diced (more to be added later if desired)
1 medium Vidalia onion, diced

Sometimes I also add:
The kernels from 4 ears of grilled corn

Place all the ingredients in to a large bowl and gently toss to mix and coat. Cover tightly and chill for a couple of hours before serving.

Enjoy!!

Thai Peanut Salad

So I made and we enjoyed Red Curry Chicken and Red Curry Chicken leftovers but what to do with the leftover-leftover chicken??  I of course opted for a good old standby, throw it on a salad.  But the chicken was so good and distinctly flavored that I couldn’t just use any old dressing so I continued the Thai theme and made a lovely peanut dressing.  Both Eammon and I really loved this dressing as it had just the right balance of sweet, salty, sour, savory and heat, this will definitely be a make again dressing and salad in our home.

 

Thai Peanut Salad

leftover Red Curry Chicken, shredded

Salad:
1 (12 oz) package of mixed baby salad greens
red, orange & yellow peppers, julienned
Vidalia onion chopped
Tomatoes, large dice
cucumber, sliced and quartered
fresh enoki mushrooms
avocado slices

Dressing:
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 TBS. Whey Low Gold (or brown sugar)
1/3 cup water
1 TBS. soy sauce
1 TBS. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 lime, juiced

Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Assemble the salad, top with chicken and avocado slices then drizzle on the dressing, easy peasy!

Enjoy!

Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

I have been craving all things avocado and even though they’re wicked expensive this year (what’s the deal with the price this year?) they’ve still been finding their way into a lot of our salads and meals.  The other night I was perusing some cooking blogs and saw a recipe on Jehan Can Cook for a wonderful salad which contained not only avocado but also grilled corn, another favorite in our home, so I just had to make it.  WOW did we adore this salad, so many of our favorite summer time flavors with nice contrasting textures, a bit of sweetness and just a bit of heat…wonderful!!  The best thing, it took mere minutes to make this salad and we enjoyed it as a “dip” eating it on nacho chips as we sipped summer drinks, Watermelon Frosty for me and a more “adult” beverage for Eammon. 

Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing  (adapted from here)

2 ears fresh corn, husk & silk removed
Juice of 1 lime
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 TBS honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in halves
1 ripe Hass avocado, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Grill corn over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes turning as necessary.  The corn should have some brown spots and be tender but not mushy.  Cut the corn off the cob and scrape the cob with the back of your knife to get the juices.  Set aside and let cool. 

In a large bowl whisk together the lime juice, oil, honey, salt, pepper, garlic & cayenne.  Add the grilled corn, tomatoes and cilantro and mix well so that everything is coated with the dressing,  Carefully mix in the avocado being careful not to mash it as you mix.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and serve. 

Enjoy!

Potato Salad with Bacon

I am forever perusing cooking blogs and I don’t even want to venture a guess as to how many recipes I have emailed to myself in hopes of making one day as I’m sure that it’s probably more than I could make in two lifetimes.  Recently though I have been working on better organizing my recipes and as I organize I’ve been watching for those recipes which I could make immediately because of having all the ingredients in the house.  This potato salad was one of those recipes and though I didn’t have the exact ingredients in the original recipe I had perfect-close-enough substitutions and honestly after making the recipe I would leave my substitutions in place as this was a perfect recipe for us.  When I saw this recipe for potato salad. something about it just worked for me so it ended up in my email box.  

Funny thing about this recipe is the night that I first served this potato salad Eammon immediately exclaimed that this was “the best potato salad ever.”  So why is that so funny?  Because Michelle at Brown Eyed Baker got this recipe from her friend’s grandmother and on that original recipe card it was titled “Best Ever Potato Salad”.  So below is my slightly adapted rendition of their Best Ever Potato Salad.

Potato Salad with Bacon (adapted from here)

4 c peeled & cubed potatoes (I used russet because that’s what I had in the house)
10 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBS Dijon mustard
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
1 medium Vidalia or sweet onion, chopped
1/2 medium red and/or orange pepper, chopped

Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender then drain the potatoes and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a fry pan over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Pour off all but 2 TBS of the bacon drippings.

Remove the fry pan from the heat and add the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar and salt to the reserved bacon drippings and whisk to combine.

In a large bowl combine the eggs, celery, onion and pepper. Pour the dressing over the ingredients and stir to evenly mix. Add the potatoes and bacon and gently stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!!

Oriental Chicken Salad

Recently I have been trying to use up items that I have in my pantry and freezer as both are quite full and in need of a clean out.  To that end, I have tried to only purchase fresh veggies and milk each week.  Since I really don’t pre-plan our meals, I get what veggies look good and are at a good price and I work around that with the items available in my pantry and freezer.  In my refrigerator from my last shopping trip I had two large containers of mini red, yellow & orange sweet peppers, a bag of tri-color coleslaw mix and my ever present supply of cilantro & green onion so I knew that I wanted to work with those.  In addition, in the freezer I had a package of breast meat left over from a rotisserie chicken, so it worked out perfectly when I found this recipe for Asian Chicken Salad on Dianna’s Double Batch blog.  As it turned out, I had every ingredient needed to make my adaptation of her recipe…aren’t adaptations wonderful!

We really enjoyed this salad, it was quick to make and very fresh and summery tasting so a perfect recipe to make and enjoy after a long afternoon at the pool. 

 

Oriental Chicken Salad (Adapted from here)

For the salad:

2 packages (3 ounces each) ramen noodle mix, Oriental flavor, flavor packet set aside for dressing
½ cup sliced almonds
1 package (16 ounces) tri-color coleslaw mix
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1 large bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
6 green onions, whites & green, chopped
3-4 each, mini red, orange & yellow sweet peppers, cut in long strips
vinaigrette dressing (recipe below)

Heat oven to 350 F.  Break up the ramen noodles and place them and the almonds on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 6 minutes, or until the noodles and almonds turn light brown.

Place slaw mix, chicken, cilantro, green onions & sliced peppers in a large serving bowl.  Toss to combine.

Just before serving, pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat.  Scatter the toasted almonds and noodles on top and serve.

Vinaigrette dressing:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 reserved flavor packet from the ramen noodles
1/2 cup olive oil

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, pepper and one of the reserved flavor packets from the noodles in a blender.  Once combined, with the blender running, gradually blend in the oil.

Enjoy!

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