Thai Chicken Salad

So I love Thai food. I love the sweet/sour/spicy combos they create. I have a friend with Thai roots and I wish when I was younger that I had paid more attention when I ate with her. I can remembering going to Ft. Walton, FL and eating at what I can recall as a good restaurant.....however I do not remember any of it!! What a complete waste of memory!! You know what I did take away from her food knowledge?? Sticky rice and beef jerky!! That's right.....you read right. And don't knock it until you try it.

But that is not what I did today. And if you, like me, have preconceived notions of what Thai food should taste like.....throw them out of the window! This meal will not live up to those. It really should not be called Thai, but rather Asian inspired dressing. By that I mean peanut butter accented by soy sauce!! Okay so not really Asian, but shhhh.......let's pretend!

Salad:
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 head of romaine, roughly torn
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1-2 carrots, shredded
2c fresh bean sprouts
2c shredded or sliced chicken

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Dressing:
2/3c coconut milk
1T brown sugar
2T peanut butter
1T fresh lime juice
2T soy sauce
1/8t cayenne

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickens slightly, stirring occassionally.
*So I used the whole can of coconut milk and adjusted the other ingredients to taste. And instead of cayenne I used several drops of Sriracha. I also added a tablespoon of fish sauce. Fish sauce is such a staple in Thai cooking that in order to call this dish Thai...well....it needed fish sauce!
Remove sauce from heat and cool for 2 minutes. Pour over salad. Top with crushed peanuts.

We ate our salad with some Thai noodles. Just seemed like the thing to do. And besides....who doesn't like noodles? We found some and bought one in each flavor. Mine was the green onion and Alex had the roasted garlic and vegetable flavor. It was a nice accent to the meal. Asian soup and salad!!

So the verdict? Pretty good. At first I was disappointed because it didn't have the big flavors I associate with Thai flavors. I really only tasted spicy peanut butter dressing. But when you get the stigma of Thai out of your head and think of it as an Asian-inspired dressing, it was pretty good. It is a different way to eat salad. I get so sick and tired of the same ole salads you get everywhere and at everyones home. I like to mix it up. And this did just that. And the good news is that with all the chicken and peanuts it is filling.

So I think I will definitely make this dish again. Especially with my new mindset. So anyone looking to jazz up a boring lettuce, cucumber, and tomato salad will enjoy this. Different twists and turns and all the healthful nature of a salad. So be adventurous!! Go get some bean sprouts and pile them on your salad and crunch on down!!