Sunday, November 14, 2010

Thai Stir Fry Salad

Anytime I get an inkling of something new Mr. FvF discovers that he likes, I try to find a way I can create a meal around it. I can't remember how, but he realized he liked Asian-style sesame, dressing - so I figured I could make a spinach salad of it. But, just any regular spinach salad wouldn't do. Unlike lettuce, green leafies like cabbage and spinach are sometimes even better when they wilt under a bit of heat, so I thought I might try putting a chicken stir fry on top of a bed of it.

Here's what you'll need (serves 2):

2-3 tbsp oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 zucchini, juilenned
1 carrot, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped or julienned
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups fresh spinach, or cabbage if you prefer
crushed dry roasted peanuts
chopped cilantro


You could really use about any kind of stir-fry veggies that you dig, like baby corn, peppers or water chestnuts. This is just stuff that I know we both like.

Start the oil over medium-high heat in a skillet, and add the diced chicken. Cook it all the way through (til no longer pink), then add all of your veggies and pepper flakes, stir and cook about another 4-5 minutes until they're tender, but not thoroughly soft.

Serve over the spinach, then top with dressing (we used sesame ginger, but you any Asian-style dressing would do), peanuts and cilantro. As you can see, it plates beautifully - plus it's ridiculously healthy.

Here's my one big caveat, so you don't ruin the dish like I did. DO NOT eyeball the red pepper flakes. I'm pretty sure I ended up getting a lot closer to a full teaspoon on my dish, and it was so face-meltingly hot that I couldn't bare to finish it. You all know I'm a sissy about heat, but even my husband was sweating buckets and didn't finish his, either. Otherwise, this would have kicked some serious ass. I'll definitely be making it again with some different veggies (probably a mixed frozen bag, to be honest - julienning is for chumps) and a measured 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes.


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