Dinner Tonight: Thai Chicken and Rice Salad

Well, *I* certainly enjoyed that rash of new blogs posts last week – didn’t you? Not sure how I found the time to do that, but I can guarantee it won’t be happening again this week. Ruthie starts school on Tuesday, and while that theoretically gives me more time to think straight, I’m feeling a little like the kid who tried Pop Tarts for the first time and loved them so much he ate three boxes.

(what this actually means, is that I’ve severely over committed my expectations for next week.)

Anyhow, that clearly has nothing to do with Thai Chicken and Rice Salad.

This is a new favorite at the Zug Haus – even Ruthie devours two bowls of it. And? She’s taught herself how to use chopsticks. Between this and the shoe tying incident, I’m pretty sure she’ll be teaching me how to bake cheesecake by Christmas.

I found the recipe at Love Drunk and I highly recommend it. The nice thing is, I’ve made it chilled and I’ve made it warm, so it’s a recipe that can last into the winter months. The only adjustment I made was to add a splash or two of soy sauce to the dressing – it added another necessary layer that makes it perfect.

Oh, and I also made it once with a whole chicken I cooked in the crockpot with lime, garlic, and cilantro, cooled, then shredded. Yum.

Thai Chicken and Rice Salad

(adapted from Cooking Light)

Cook 2 cups short grain brown rice.

While that’s steaming, heat a couple TBSP olive oil in a pan, med-high heat, and
coat 4 chicken breasts (bnls, sknls) with sea salt (I like the coarse, unrefined) and
freshly cracked black pepper. Get a nice sear on each side of them and cover, turn down heat, and cook till done but still moist. Shred with a couple of forks.

Grate 3-4 good-sized carrots
Chop big bunch of green onions
Chop good sized bunch of cilantro
Whisk together 1/4 cup sesame oil, the juice of 3 limes, a little olive oil and 4-5 cloves garlic (crushed)

In a big bowl (this makes more than you’d think), put the warm rice and shredded chicken, the grated carrots, the green onions, and cilantro. Pour the dressing over and add a couple good handfuls of roasted, unsalted peanuts (to taste). Stir till combined, check for salt and pepper, and serve. Good warm or cold.