Thai Chicken Salad

Is this you?  Have super picky  kids when it comes to what is put on the table at meal time?  Well it’s me!!  It can be exhausting looking for a recipe which they find acceptable enough to put in their mouths.  While sitting in car-line at school and thumbing through the new “Cooking with Paul Deen” magazine,  everything I saw on the pages was making me hungry.  Although all the recipes in this edition are geared towards Easter, I found a salad which I was hoping my kids would eat.  It was the Thai Chicken salad calling my name, but would it call theirs?  I am a huge lover of salads so this one I knew I must try and I thought it would be different enough to interest my children.  Since I have yet to run across a salad with a video game in it,  I am still on the lookout for the perfect kid salad!!

The recipe called for Mint, of which we are not big fans, so I left that little ingredient out.  Also omitted was the red bell pepper. My son would not even have tried this salad had he seen them in the mix.  If you are busy like me, you love the crockpot; so I put the chicken on the night before throwing it all together.  I also substituted the won ton wrappers with won ton strips, because I was too lazy to get back to the store (and a Lifetime movie just started!!).  In any event, I felt the strips would be a tad healthier than the large square sheets.  Also, for some reason the local grocery store decided they needed to hide the angel hair coleslaw, so I substituted it with the regular Asian Slaw.  As most of my recipes are organic, I would much rather have made the slaw fresh and with organic ingredients, but simply didn’t have time.  Every now and then, I will slip but for the most part, I try to stick to it.

I drive my kids crazy, forcing the “healthy eating” literally down their throats; but we all know eating the right foods is necessary in living a healthy, productive life. The proof was in the pudding. Abby, who is eleven, loved it and asked for second helpings. Garrett, my thirteen year-old, was a different story of course.  Garrett ate all the chicken and skimped on the salad, but I was able to get him to eat most of it.  As for my husband, he will eat just about anything I put on the table, whether it be good or bad.  I have told him many times to tell the truth when it comes to my recipes being good or not.  Initially, I think he told a few white lies; but he knows how important this is to me so he is giving his bluntly honest opinions, no matter how mad he knows it will make me! Just kidding!  But, I do not want to make something again if it is not really tasty and absolutely down right delicious.

I want to hear your comments as well!!!  After all, we can listen to our husbands only so much!!!!   People as you know, have different tastes and I won’t be offended if you find any dish I post not to your liking.  We are all friends here, and I seek your comments and advice.

 

 Kellie

 

 Ingredients

1 (10-ounce) bag asian slaw

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1/2 cup chopped roasted salted peanuts

1/2 cup sliced green onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Lime Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

won ton strips for garnish

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

In a large bowl, stir first 5 ingredients

Add Lime Vinaigrette and stir

Garnish with won ton strips

 

Lime Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 Rice Vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days

 

Adapted from “Cooking with Paul Deen” March/April Issue