Cooking with Zoe: Citrus Peanut Chicken Salad

One of my favorite songwriters, Rich Mullins, once said that he felt like when he wrote songs, he was really piecing together a quilt, rather than creating something new out of nothing. I think that describes nicely what I did with dinner tonight. Piecing together a few of my favorite recipe components and making a few twists here and there, I pulled together that had a nice balance of bright flavors, delightful balance of textures, and it was pleasantly filling. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m fully obsessed with all things peanut butter. If you try it out, I hope you enjoy it too.

Citrus Peanut Chicken Salad

2 servings

Ingredients:

Dressing:

(Adapted from Cooking Light, Light and Easy Menus cookbook, p.44)

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

1 teaspoon orange rind

Chicken:

(Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Good and Easy Cookbook, 1996, p.74)

One orange

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 chicken breast half, sliced into strips

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup finely chopped salted peanuts

Salad:

1 head of red leaf romaine lettuce, washed

1 can mandarin oranges

½ cup chow mein crispy noodles

1 small cucumber, peeled and sliced

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400˚

2) Grate the orange rind

3) Juice the orange

4) Mix orange juice with peanut butter and ginger in small bowl. Put chopped peanuts in a separate small bowl.

5) Salt the chicken strips. Dip chicken into peanut butter mixture, then into the peanuts to coat, place chicken into greased baking dish. Bake chicken for 25 minutes, turning once. Test to be sure the chicken is no longer pink by cutting into the center.

6) While chicken is baking, mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl, set aside

7) Tear lettuce into two bowls, add mandarin oranges, chow mein crispy noodles, cucumber, and orange slices on top. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.