Description
Thai Chicken Salad with poached coconut chicken, baby spinach, cucumbers, fresh herbs and scallions.
Ingredients
Units
- 1– 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 14-ounce can coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 kefir lime leaves- optional
Spinach Salad
- 4–5 ounces fresh baby spinach ( or sub arugula or other greens)
- 2 cups English cucumber, thinnly sliced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced at a diagonal
- 1/2 –3/4 cups fresh herbs- cilantro leaves, thai basil (or regular basil) and mint (a combo of all three is nice, but one or two will work.)
- one lime
Optional additions: avocado slices, edamame, thinly sliced jalapeno, toasted flaked coconut, sliced radishes, snap peas, store-bought crispy shallots, roasted peanuts. or make our Peanut Chili Crunch (Seroendeng).
Instructions
- Poach the chicken breast. Cut the chicken into smaller pieces. In a large saucepan or skillet, heat the coconut milk, stir in the red curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and salt. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken pieces to the poaching liquid, bring to a boil, cover, then lower the heat to medium, and simmer gently for 10 minutes covered. Turn the pieces over, cover, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked all the way through ( reaches 165F at thickest part). Save the poaching liquid, letting it cool down- this will be the dressing!
- Place the chicken in a bowl, shred with two forks, stir in a couple tablespoons of poaching liquid and let it cool. You can do this all ahead of time and refrigerate, for meal prep.
- Toss the salad. Place the spinach in a bowl with cucumbers, green onions, fresh herbs, and the shredded chicken. Add a few tablespoons of the cooled poaching liquid, just enough to coat the leaves well, and toss.
- Season. Add a squeeze of lime juice to taste, and a pinch more salt if needed. If you like it spicy, add a squirt of sriracha.
- Garnish. Divide among bowls and top the salad with something crunchy or crispy- toasted coconut, roasted peanuts or crispy shallots.
Notes
Leftovers will keep up to four days if stored separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Chicken can be frozen up to 3 months (either shredded or in the poaching liquid.
If storing the poaching liquid for later, strain it and store in the fridge.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 entree salads
- Calories: 277
- Sugar: 1.5 g
- Sodium: 628.7 mg
- Fat: 15.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 11.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.3 g
- Fiber: 1.6 g
- Protein: 28.2 g
- Cholesterol: 82.7 mg