Thai Chicken Salad with Mango and Ginger

adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
4 tablespoons brown sugar
teaspoon minced seeded Thai, hot red, or serrano chiles
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad:
12 ounces skinned, boned chicken breast
2 cups sliced peeled mango (about 2 mangoes)
1/4 cup matchstick-cut peeled fresh ginger
4 cups mixed salad greens
2/3 cup torn mint leaves

Preparation

To prepare the dressing, combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl, and stir well with a whisk. Set dressing aside.

I used a stovetop griddle for the chicken- cut into large strips that will then get cut up later. Sear both sides, allow to cook through- 10 minutes or so - and sprinkle liberally with salt and black pepper. I also doused the chicken with a bit of fish sauce. Alternately, you could marinate it in a bit of the dressing.

Once chicken is cooked through, cut into shreds or smaller, bite-size slices. Toss with slicd mango, salad greens, mint, and ginger. Dress and serve.

Kale Slaw

I had some deliciously spicy kale slaw when I was up in Portland recently. I tried to recreate it at home:

a few big handfuls of curly kale, washed and chopped into bits
2-3 carrots, julienned

for the dressing:
olive oil
sesame oil
a splash of apple cider vinegar
chili flakes
cumin
coriander
a little squeeze of honey or agave nectar

mix it all together, and let sit for several hours before eating. It's best if you make it a day before you want to eat it.

I didn't have a lemon, but I think next time I'll use some lemon juice to balance out the honey.