This is not where I expected to find myself at this point in my life. On a free Saturday afternoon; dragging my family around from grocery store to grocery store, singling out the ones that sell a particular brand of halal meat, then standing in different line-ups to purchase said meat. I do not even need to eat halal meat. Yet here I was.....the proud owner of 100 coupons for $5.00 off halal meat, that needed to be used, ONE PER PERSON, by June 30, 2016.
So, having chicken on the brain, I wanted to share my Thai Chicken Noodle Salad with Peanut Lime Dressing Recipe. This is not only the best Thai Chicken salad recipe ever, it's dear to my heart. It is THE FIRST recipe I ever created, about 25 years ago. And that's pretty special.
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I, along with 9 other lucky recipients, received this as a secondary prize in a Canadian home cooking competition. The grand prize was a $10,000.00 kitchen make-over. Yep. Really....
Now, that isn’t to say this is a typical prize in a cooking contest and that I haven’t won a lot of pretty sweet prizes over the last number of years. In fact, I have I been pretty lucky, winning many prizes that include:
- cash
- prohibitively expensive cookware
- aprons
- spatulas, fancy flippers, graters, an official CHOPPED knife (my fave!) and various other cooking utentils and accessories
- an expensive and super cozy blanket
- small appliances (Professional Kitchen Aid Mixer, Wolfgang Puck pressure oven, rice cooker etc.) YAY!
- a digital SLR camera! DOUBLE YAY!
- grocery store gift cards- very practical!
- trips (a quickie trip to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to shoot a segment on Better Living TV) FUN & VERY sweet!
- my original recipes published in a Home and Garden cookbook and in several print and online publications,
- a couple of TV appearances
But I'd have to say that the coupons definitely win the prize as the most bizarre prize I've ever won....
🥘 Ingredients
For this cold noodle salad, you'll need:
- romaine lettuce
- yellow pepper
- chicken breast
- carrot
- green onion
- grape tomatoes
- vermicelli noodles
- garlic powder
- cajun seasoning
- white granulated sugar
- olive oil
- ginger
- lime juice
- honey
- soy sauce
- peanut butter
- minced garlic
- dry mustard
*See recipe card for quantities
📋VARIATIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS
- Lettuce - you can use any type of lettuce you like, but
- Peppers - you can use red or yellow peppers
- Spicy - if you like spicy, you can add chili pepper flakes or sriracha sauce
- Tomatoes - use grape or cherry tomatoes
- Noodles - you can use egg noodles, ramen noodles or any other thin noodle
🌡️STORAGE
- This salad can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days, but store the chicken, lettuce, vegetable and noodles in separate containers in the fridge.
Well, I had to get something out of this prize and chicken is really expensive, right? So, off I went to case Cowtown's grocery stores for halal meat. You'd be surprised how many stores actually carry that one particular brand of halal met. Lucky for me!
🦺FOOD SAFETY
- Cook chicken to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C) . Temperature is the very best way to check for doneness. I use this instant read thermometer- (affiliate link) it's great for everything food related!
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched the raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
Oh and this chicken salad with noodles recipe also won a recipe contest. Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the contest, so you won’t find it in my contest wins. But it was the 2013 Healthy something contest. I wasn't very good at recording these things in the beginning, but since then I have definitely become better organized with tracking contest wins. When I first started out contesting, I really didn’t anticipate that need. But at only 6 Weight Watchers Smart Points, this Thai Chicken Noodle Salad is definitely a Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
⭐REVIEWS
Did you make this recipe? Please RATE THE RECIPE below!
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📋Thai Chicken Noodle Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- ½ cup sliced yellow or red pepper
- 2 grilled chicken breasts
- ½ cup grated carrot
- ¼ cup green onion
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups instant vermicelli noodles
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cajun seasoning
- 3 cups water
Dressing:
- 2 ½ teaspoon white granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon soya sauce
- ⅔ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter * I use light peanut butter so it has less fat than calculator notes
- ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Season chicken with garlic powder and cajun seasoning and grill on BBQ (or cook on stove top) until cooked through.
- Wash and chop vegetables, mix together. Soak vermicelli noodles in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain and add to salad.
- Add all dressing ingredients together and microwave for 45 seconds. Remove and stir with whisk. Return to microwave for another 45 seconds. Add, chicken, noodles, dressing and toss. Serve with garlic toast, if desired
Sue Slaght
Haha love the vision of you dragging the kids about town to use your coupons. Maybe not quite as good as a camera but a prize none the less! 🙂
foodmeanderingscom
yes, Sue Slaght - they were thankfully quite compliant and helpful! And we saved a lot of money on chicken this year. And who doesn't love saving money on chicken?!