Chicken Pad Thai Salad

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 4 COOKING TIME 30 mins

2 x 180g chicken breasts, trimmed

2 x cans light coconut milk

1 tsp. turmeric (opt)

350g Chinese cabbage (about one-third of a cabbage), finely shredded

3 carrots, shredded (see notes)

2 zucchinis, shredded (see notes)

1 cup mint leaves

2/3 cup coriander leaves

4 tbsp roasted & salted peanuts

Spicy peanut dressing

3 tbsp 100% natural crunchy peanut butter

1 medium red chilli, deseed, finely chopped

1 thumb-size ginger, peeled, grated

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp lime zest

2 limes, juice of  

METHOD

1.       Place the coconut milk and turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a gentle simmer; add the chicken and poach until just cooked (10-15 mins). Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Slice into half centimeter thick slices. Reserve 1 cup of the coconut milk mixture once the chicken has cooked.

2.       To make the peanut dressing, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor with ½ cup of the reserved coconut milk until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, whisk ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Add more milk if needed. The sauce should be loose enough to coat the salad.

3.       Place the cabbage, carrot, zucchini, mint and coriander leaves until in a large bowl and toss to combine; divide between 4 bowls, top with chicken, one tbsp peanuts and serve the dressing on the side

GEORGIE’S NOTES

I used a julienne peeler to shred the carrot and zucchini, but if you don’t have one, use a regular peeler to make thick ribbons instead.

Bulk this salad up with:

-          2 cups cooked brown rice

-          1 cup cooked, shelled edamame

-          200g cooked rice noodles

Instead of chicken use:

-          Flaked salmon

-          Tofu cubes