Szechwan Chicken Salad With Dressing

PaulaG's Note:

Daughter gives us a Harry and David fruit of the month gift for Christmas. This month was "pearsnapples" and the insert had this wonderful salad. It is out of this world.

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 1 medium pear
• 1 medium apple
• 1 chicken breast , cooked and shredded
• 1 cucumber , julienne cut
• ¼ teaspoon chopped coriander
• 3 cups green leaf lettuce , shredded (I use baby spinach.)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Dressing

• ¼ cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 clove garlic , minced
• ½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 -2 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients for dressing into a small saucepan.
2. Warm on low heat until creamy and well blended, whisking constantly.
3. Add a 1 or 2 tablespoons of water to dressing until desired consistency.
4. Mix about 2 cups of cold water and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice.
5. Core apple and pear, cut into thin slices and drop into cold water.
6. Wash and tear greens into bite size pieces.
7. Combine chicken, cucumber and coriander.
8. When ready to serve, drain and lightly dry the fruit.
9. On chilled salad plates divide the greens into 2 portions, place chicken mixture in mound on top.
10. Arrange the fruit slices on top and serve with the dressing.

Reviews

[Susie D]

I liked this salad quite a lot. I enjoyed the combination of spinach, crisp cold pears & apples, and the cilantro. The dressing is delicious and pairs well with the ingredients. I did have a problem with the thickness of the dressing and repeatedly added additional water. I do agree with other reviewers that sunflower seeds or chow mein noodles would be a nice added ingredient to add crunch. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

[Diplo-mom]

Made this salad yesterday morning and then took in a cooler to the pool with the kids. I made just as listed but reduced the amount of hot pepper sauce and cayenne pepper for kids. Excellent salad and wonderful for a take along. Next time, for adults, I will keep the hot stuff at the amounts written as I like it hot! Also, I think next time I will up the pear and apple to two of each as we really liked those bits the best. Thank you Paula for posting this wonderful and unique salad.

[Maito]

Great salad, beautiful to look at too. The dressing is the real star here. I melted the peanut butter in the microwave and slowly added the liquids and this worked perfectly. I omitted the honey and added the juice of a lime to it also, since I like my dressings on the tangier side. I skipped the cayenne, as the hot sauce made it spicy enough for me. I added more cilantro to the salad. The apples were OK in it, but the pears were my favorite - and I thought the amounts were just right. For a vegetarian version I bet tofu or edamame would be wonderful in it. I will make this again, especially the dressing - it would be really good in other applications as well.