Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad

Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad is the name, deconstruction is the game.

From all the way back to the first hints of Roo's textural sensitivities and oral delays, the concept of deconstructed dinner has been my friend. Still is. The concept is simple.

See, there's this for you...

And this for them...

And it's so freaking easy! Start with a slew of fresh colorful vegetables. This is the perfect time to shell out a few extra cents for the rainbow pack of bell peppers or purple carrots if you happen to find them. Hit the grocery store, use what I used or raid your crisper drawer and go from there. As long as you have a nice variety of colors and textures, nobody's going to complain. Cucumbers, grape tomatoes, corn hacked off the cob...it's all good. Just don't forget the cabbage. It's the base for your salad.

So, have you played Crunch a Color with your kids yet? I'm not getting any kickbacks here, promise, but you really need to own this game. Order it right now. Then serve this salad for dinner an prepare to be amazed at what your children will eat at the promise of 15 points.


Asian Rainbow Chicken Salad
adapted from my personal idols, Jenny Rosenstrach and Andy Ward, via bon appetit

For the dressing
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp grated peeled ginger
kosher salt

For the salad
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped (keep some seeds if you like it hot)
1/3 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/3 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
5-6 scallions, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup pepitas
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

To make the dressing, combine the first 6 ingredients (oil through ginger) in a small bowl. Whisk well. Season with salt. If you'll be serving the dressing to anyone who can't handle a little heat (like my kids for instance), reserve a portion of it in a second small bowl. Add the jalapeño to the remaining dressing and stir.

Arrange a portion of the colorful sliced vegetables, chicken, and pepitas like a rainbow onto plates - one for each kid. Place a small bowl of (jalapeño-free) dressing in the center and serve to the munchkins in your life. 

Bean's a fan too

Roo likes it.

Now, combine the remaining vegetables and chicken in a large bowl. Drizzle the jalapeño dressing over the top and toss it all together. Sprinkle pepitas and toasted sesame seeds on top and voila...an elegant dinner for the grown-ups too.

If you happen to have a couple of buttermilk fried chicken strips lying around, go ahead and throw those on the plate too. Special thanks to the Pioneer Woman for the leftovers.

And if you're looking for even more variation and deconstruction inspiration, this Thai Steak Salad deconstructs equally well.

Sugar Snap Slaw with Miso Dressing

Sugar snap peas are having a moment. Everywhere I look someone is slicing, dicing, or chomping on crisp emerald sugar snaps. Some of us are even mixing a few into spicy black rice salad!

The KC kiddos love sugar snaps but let's talk cabbage for a moment. I often lament Looly's late emergence picky eating. The girl who once happily gummed avocados, artichoke hearts, salmon, and sirloin now subsists primarily on waffles, bread, and berries. But friends, at least we still have cabbage.

For whatever reason, Looly adores raw cabbage. Green, purple, it doesn't matter. Her enthusiasm is infectious to the point that Bean and Roo now complain if I miss their plates with a few crispy strips of coveted "slaw" too. I cannot complain about that.

For all their love of cabbage, the 6-and-unders here have zero in salad dressing. It doesn't matter. Let them munch their raw sugar snaps and cabbage ribbons. As usual, I set aside a deconstructed version of slaw for them - really just fresh cabbage, slices of sugar snap peas, and a few radishes, which they (perhaps oddly) also seem to enjoy. That means more yummy dressing for me. More for you. 

Sugar Snap Slaw with Miso Dressing
adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

For the dressing

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh miso (mild yellow or white)* plus more to taste
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp sunflower or grapeseed oil

Throw all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and mix until you have a thick, creamy, delicious puree. Alternatively, place all the ingredients in medium cylindrical container (like those that often come with an immersion blender) and whip to perfection with a handheld blender.

* Find fresh miso in the refrigerated section of most well-stocked grocery stores

For the Salad

1/2 pound sugar snap peas, washed and sliced on a diagonal**
1/2 pound cabbage, thinly sliced
4-6 radishes, cut into matchsticks
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (you can toast your own or buy them already toasted, like I did)

Toss all of the salad ingredients together, reserving 1 tbsp sesame seeds. Pour your desired amount of dressing over the top and toss everything together. Top with the remaining 1 tbsp sesame seeds.

You will likely have more dressing than you'll need for the slaw. Keep the extra in the fridge and it will last several days. It makes a super tasty dip for just about any crunchy veg you can think of...carrots, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, baby corn, kale chips, you name it.

**In her cookbook, Deb Perelman says to blanch the sugar snaps, but I don't find it necessary. They're lovely and delicious raw or blanched so my philosophy is, why add a step? If you prefer your veggies more tender, go ahead and blanch the peas for a couple of minutes before slicing. I skip it.

Thai Steak (or Chicken) Salad

I'm always on the lookout for ways everyone get what they want out of a single meal. For the kids this means things they like, not too spicy, small colorful portions, followed by dessert. For Mufasa it entails big robust flavors, plenty of heat, and meat. I want something that tastes good and still allows me to button my pants in the morning. It can be tricky to manage, but this little ditty fits the bill.

Oddly enough, Looly adores cabbage, so the salad portion of this meal is right up her alley. Roo is all about meat and while we've just started venturing into beef territory with him due to his allergies, this recipe works just as well with chicken. Bean likes the meat, veggies, mint leaves, and most of all, using chopsticks.

The flavor is big, bright, bold and spicy which makes Mufasa very happy, and since the meat gets tossed in the sauce after cooking, it's easy to keep the heat turned down for the kids. To dial it up for the grown-ups add plenty of Sriracha after you've tossed some cabbage and meat for the spice averse.

Thai Steak (or Chicken) Salad
adapted from Cooking Light June 2012

1-1/2 pounds flank steak, trimmed or 1-1/2 pounds chicken breasts
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp Sriracha
1 cup red cabbage, sliced
1 cup green cabbage, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

1. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Cook about 6 minutes per side or until done. Remove meat from pan and let stand 5 minutes. Slice meat across grain into thin slices.
2. Combine lime juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, and Sriracha* in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
3. Combine both cabbages and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Dress the salad mixture with 6 tbsp of the juice mixture and toss to coat. Add meat to the remaining juice mixture and toss to coat. Distribute salad onto plates and top with meat.

*If you're serving kids, hold off on adding the Sriracha until after you've tossed some meat and salad in the dressing.

Serves 6