Easy Eats: Crispy Citrus Chicken Salad
Salad days are coming - get ready with this punchy number from Sam Parish. Photo: Sam Parish
This crispy citrus chicken salad is a punchy balance of zesty citrus, tender chicken, and crunchy noodles. The tangy dressing is a take on a Thai-style Nam Jim, and it sorts out the flavour for this salad perfectly. Quick to prepare and easily customisable, this salad can be served warm or chilled. You can also swap out the noodles for roasted nuts to make it a gluten-free winner.
Serves 4 / Prep time: 15 minutes / Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 500g chicken thigh fillets
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 ½ Tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
- 1 capsicum, sliced (I used half yellow and half orange for colour)
- 2-3 seedless oranges, peeled and chopped into eighths
- Juice of 1-2 limes
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 ½ Tbsp brown sugar
- ¼ cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 green onions (shallots), thinly sliced
- 2 cups crispy noodles (can sub with roasted cashews for gluten free)
- Mint sprigs to serve (can sub with coriander)
Method
Toss chicken with pepper, oil and a pinch of salt. Heat a chargrill pan over high heat and add chicken. Grill, turning halfway, for 10-12 minutes or until cooked through and golden.
Meanwhile, prepare the oranges, capsicum, and chilli, and place them in a bowl along with lime juice, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix to combine. Taste and season with extra soy or sugar if needed.
Once the chicken is cooked, transfer it to a chopping board while still hot and slice into pieces. Add directly to the dressing mixture and toss to coat. Set aside for 5 minutes to infuse and soften the capsicum slightly. (At this point, you could chill this mixture and serve the salad cold.)
When ready to serve, place cabbage and green onions in a large serving bowl. Add the chicken and dressing, and toss to coat. Scatter with crispy noodles and mint, and serve immediately to keep the noodles crisp.
Photo: Sam Parish
Sam Parish is a Christchurch-based chef, writer and food stylist. She's all about cooking smarter, not harder. She’ll be sharing delicious, fast, family-friendly food ideas every Wednesday (after road-testing them on her own whānau, of course). Sam’s first book, Cook Me is out now.
