Chopped Chicken Cashew Salad with Homemade Creamy Cashew Dressing
Yield: 6Servings
Prep Time: 25 minutesmins
Total Time: 25 minutesmins
Ingredients
Dressing:
½cuproasted salted cashews
1tablespoonchopped fresh ginger
2tablespoonschopped fresh cilantro
2tablespoonschopped shallots
2tablespoonsrice vinegar
1tablespoonfresh lime juice, from about 1 lime
2tablespoonslow-sodium soy sauce
1tablespoontoasted sesame oil
2clovesgarlic
1teaspoonhoney
2tablespoonscanola, olive or avocado oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Salad:
3-4cupscooked chopped chicken (see note)
½tablespoonlow-sodium soy sauce
½tablespoontoasted sesame oil
4cupsshredded Napa cabbage
2-3cupschopped romaine lettuce
1cupchopped snow peas
1cupchopped carrots
2green onions, white and green parts thinly chopped
½cupchopped fresh cilantro
½ - 1cupchopped roasted salted cashews
Instructions
For the dressing, pulse the 1/2 cup cashews in a blender or food processor until the texture is like a paste. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients and process until well-combined and mostly smooth. Set aside or refrigerate for up to a couple days.
Toss the cooked, chopped chicken with the 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, lettuce, snow peas, carrots, green onions, and cilantro. Add the chicken.
Toss the salad with the dressing (add a bit at a time; you can serve any extra alongside if you don't use it all to dress the salad). Sprinkle the cashews on top and serve. If you are planning to have leftovers, don't toss the salad with the dressing as a whole - serve the dressing on the side and store the dressing and salad leftovers separately in the refrigerator.
Notes
Chicken: if you don't have cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken works great here), this simple, flavorful method for cooking chicken to shred or chop is a great alternative. If doing the above (cooking the chicken to use in the recipe), try rubbing the soy sauce + sesame oil mixture on the chicken before cooking instead of tossing with the cooked chicken like called for in the recipe.