Lemongrass Thai Salad

June 8, 2015

Author: KatieChin

I had such an amazing time making this refreshing and gorgeous Thai Salad from my cookbook, Everyday Thai Cooking, on Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family show the other day! It’s filled with vibrant colors and interesting textures from the purple cabbage, coconut, green beans and crushed peanuts. And then there’s the dressing…wow! The yummy salad ingredients are tossed with canola oil, lime juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, ginger, chili-garlic sauce and topped with chicken which has been marinated in lemongrass and other sweet, sour, salty and hot ingredients and then broiled. You can grill the chicken if you prefer or swap out with beef, shrimp, pork or tofu. Substitute the soy sauce with tamari or liquid aminos (I like the Bragg brand) for a gluten-free version of this dish.

I loved hearing all the oohs and ahhhs from the guests sampling the salad while we filmed the segment including Gbenga Akinnagbe (co-star of “The Wire”) and my friend and Home & Family co-hosts Mark Steines and Debbie Matenopolous. They loved that this Lemongrass Chicken Salad is loaded with exotic flavors but is incredibly low in fat. I served up this salad to host Cristina Ferrare on a gorgeous Thai inspired plate from Cost Plus World Market.

Ingredients

Marinade

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)

1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar

1 ½ tablespoons minced lemongrass

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

Dressing

2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh galangal or ginger

2 teaspoons palm sugar or brown sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)

1/2 teaspoon Asian chili-garlic sauce, preferably sambal oelek

4 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Salad

6 yard-long beans or 12 green beans, cut into 2 in (5 cm) pieces

1 cup (71 g) shredded coconut

2 cups (152 g) red or purple cabbage, sliced into thin shreds/threads

4 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves

4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Thai or Italian basil leaves

½ small red onion, thinly sliced

6 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

Marinade: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar, lemongrass, garlic and sesame oil. Place the chicken breasts in a resealable plastic food-storage bag and marinate for 1 hour (up to overnight) in the refrigerator.
Preheat broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Broil for 7 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board; let stand for 5 minutes, then cut into thin slices. Discard the marinade.
In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
Cook the beans in boiling water until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to an ice bath until cool. Drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the reserved beans, coconut, cabbage, peanuts, coriander leaves, mint, basil, red onion, kaffir lime leaves, if using. Divide salad evenly among 4 plates. Divide the chicken slices evenly among salads. Drizzle remaining dressing evenly on top of chicken slices. Serve immediately.