Salad. Salad. Salad. Salad.

I spent the last 3 days reverse cocooning. I was outside 24-7, every hour of every day, every minute of every hour, and then a few minutes after that. Helloooooo, sunny sunshine weather! After a winter that I would really love to forget, I shed my coat, donned my flip flops, and spent the day tanning my embarrassingly pale skin. Don’t worry, mom. There was SPF and sunglasses involved.

Sunny weather makes me hungry for fresh tasting food, like crisp veggies and juicy fruit (not gum FYI) … and cold ice cream. Sidenote: Is ice cream considered fresh? On second thought, don’t answer that.

Speaking of fresh, lets talk about this:

 

Thai Crunch Chicken Salad with Sweet Chili Thai Dressing
Source: How Sweet It Is via Smells Like Home
Printable Recipe

For the dressing:
1C sweet chili sauce
1/2C rice vinegar
1/2C coconut milk (recommend: lite)
1/3C light brown sugar
4 cloves, minced
1T ginger, grated (use fresh!)
3T creamy peanut butter
2 limes, juiced
2T soy sauce

 

For the salad:
1 package meat-free chicken tenders (recommend: gardein chicken tenders), cooked according to package
1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2C shelled edamame (if frozen, defrost)
1-2 carrots, shredded/grated
1 scallion, sliced thin, for topping
3T peanuts, chopped, for topping

For the dressing: Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat. Whisk while heating. Once mixture begins to simmer, turn heat down to low. Cook for 3 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour into a tupperware container. Use and refrigerate leftovers.

For the salad: Combine all the ingredients. Toss with dressing — less is more as this dressing is pretty potent. Top with peanuts and scallions.

Alternate plan = lettuce wraps: Nix the napa cabbage. Stir together the chicken, red pepper, edamame, carrots, scallion. Add dressing. Stir. Place mixture into lettuce or cabbage — i.e. lettuce wraps.