Tropical Thai Salad
Summer + Salads just go together. They are a quick, delicious, cold, crunchy reprieve to the humidity & heat that seems to hang over us forever.
My favorite thing about salads is usually a choice of an easy protein to go with it! A rotisserie chicken from BJ’s is my go-to – especially nowadays when meat prices continue to climb – the rotisserie chickens at BJ’s are a great size at 3 LBs and only $4.99!
Unless we are grilling or doing a quick stove-top dinner, I really loathe turning on my oven in the summertime. I get all sweaty while I’m cooking, which makes me irritable, which makes me not hungry, which then makes me not want to try out new recipes for you, my beloved followers. Yet another vicious cycle due to the heat of summer.
is winter even coming?
In my opinion, August is the hottest damn month of summer. It’s like Mother Nature is like “buckle up for one last heat blast you mofos” and then continues to roast us until October. Because here in Virginia we don’t have “fall” during the months that other states get to experience fall, we have “false fall”, “Second Summer” and “Indian Summer” which finally leads us straight to frosty, dewy mornings, but not usually until nearly November. It’s insane.
ANYWAY.
So, until global warming stops being a thing ((good luck bish)) I’ll just continue to make alllllllll the summer salads my heart desires – or until my husband kindly asks me to actually cook something *wink*
the name has to be good.
I will go ahead & give you a warning of sorts about the cabbage needed for this salad – I mean, I GUESS you could only use 1 type of cabbage but where’s the fun in that?? The trick is to buy a small head of each color (green & purple) and to plan to make homemade coleslaw the same week that you commit to making this salad. OR this salad will knock your damn socks off & you’ll want to make it twice in the same week anyway because it’s truly just THAT tasty so you’ll actually thank me for forcing you to buy 2 different kinds of cabbage.
I decided to call this Tropical Thai Salad because I’ve used both mango & pineapple on separate occasions for a nice bright punch of delicious, ripe, summer fruit that this salad totally deserves. The “Thai” part of this salad comes from the silky dressing inspired by many Thai dishes – fragrant ginger, sweet peanut butter, spicy sriracha – this dressing has got it all & I guarantee you’ll want to make extra just to keep on hand!
Massaged Kale for the extra health factor, cool diced cucumber, crunchy cabbages, super ripe mango, the delicious dressing mentioned above & a tangle of chilled Ramen noodles to slurp it all up with! I mean really, is your mouth watering? I sure as hell hope it is! Let’s get to it!
Ingredients, for 2 salads
· 1 Rotisserie Chicken – deboned, breasts only for this recipe
· 2 cups of kale – cleaned, destemmed, torn & divided
· ¼ small head green cabbage, sliced
· ¼ small head purple cabbage, sliced
· ½ medium cucumber, sliced & quartered
· 1 cup snap peas, boiled & shocked
· 2 green onion stalks – both greens & whites, sliced thin
· 2 ripe mangos, peeled & sliced
· 1 PKG Ramen Noodles, 2 bundles – boiled & rinsed
· 1 PKG Broccoli sprouts, for garnish (optional)
· Crushed peanuts, ¼ cup
Ingredients, for salad dressing
· ½ cup creamy peanut butter
· ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
· 2 TBS light brown sugar
· 1 TSP rice wine vinegar
· 1 TSP toasted sesame oil
· 1 TSP ginger paste
· 1 TSP garlic paste
· 1 TBS lime juice
· 1 TBS sriracha (or adjust heat to your liking!)
· ¼ cup warm water (helps thin out the dressing)
Instructions, 1
FIRST – This salad is supposed to be fun, light & easy – so get in the right mindset! I usually mix the dressing up first so it can sit around & allow the flavors to marry even more before drizzling over this amazing concoction!
SECOND – take the time to relax & make this salad as pretty as you can imagine! Build your salad like a Cobb – rows or sections so you can appreciate all the pretty colors & different ingredients as you create your salad!
Get all your ingredients lined up for the dressing – no rhyme or reason, just measure & dump everything together in a large bowl but keep the warm water separate.
A whisk is your best friend for this dressing – it will be thicc AF but don’t worry! Gently whisk the ingredients together & then slowly drizzle in the warm water – the peanut butter will instantly begin to smooth out & break down into a beautiful dressing! YUM. Give it a taste! Double the recipe! Add more sriracha! Do whatever you want! – basically, the world is your oyster. Add more lime juice if you want more acid, add more brown sugar if you like it a little sweeter. Make the taste of this dressing your own balance. By no means is this dressing recipe *mine* -- I’ve seen many variations over the years. My addition is the ginger & garlic paste to keep everything bright, fresh & fluid! I purposely didn’t use any granulated spices because I wanted this dressing to be as smooth as possible.
I usually like to boil my Ramen & snap peas first so they can be cooling while you’re assembling the rest of your salad veggies!
Boil the ramen according to the package directions, drain & rinse with cool water. Drain again and put in a bowl & set aside in the fridge.
Boil the snap peas for 3 minutes, drain & rinse with cool water. Put in a bowl with ice cubes & cool water – shock for 5 minutes.
Instructions, 2
Thoroughly clean & line up all your veggies on a big cutting board. Ripping the kale off the stems & into large salad bowls, drizzle 1 TSP each of olive oil & lime juice onto each bowl of kale & massage each pile for 1 minute.
I chose kale as the “base” of this noodle-salad because I love the obvious health benefits, but also because I have a few other summer salads we make with romaine as the base & I’m just OVER IT. I’m sure some of you reading are like “shit, I feel the same way about kale” – but I just believe I’d rather have the solo crunch of the cabbages to shine rather than the crunch of romaine – also, sometimes romaine is just too watery for my liking.
ANYWAY.
Next, thinly slice the cabbages & lay in piles overtop of the massaged kale.
Cut the cucumber into thin slices & quarters – lay overtop another section of kale.
Your Snap Peas should be completely cooled to be patted dry & ready to be sliced now as well. On the bias, slice the Snap Peas & place on another quadrant on the salad.
CAREFULLY (shit) peel your mangos. I literally have no tips or tricks on how to cut a mango. I peel it, lay it down, hack a side and then keep turning the mango over on the flat side to have a more stable place to make the next cut. IDK JUST DO IT & BE CAREFUL PLZ.
I like to lay my mango overtop each other in slivers all around the outer rim of the salad – it gives such a beautiful pop of color!
Then it’s time to lay a nest of ramen noodles – I usually pile on the noodles right in the center of my salad with all the colors & other ingredients fanning out underneath & around it. You’ll really be impressed with how beautiful this salad turns out!
FINALLY its time for garnishes – the best part because that means it’s almost time to eat! Thinly slice your green onions & sprinkle directly overtop your entire salad. Measure out ¼ cup of peanuts – any kind you prefer is fine! I’ll bet even honey roasted peanuts would be delicious in this salad! Place your peanuts in a ziplock baggie, lay the baggie down flat on a cutting board & take a rolling pin to gently crush and smash the peanuts. Sprinkle the crushed peanuts over top the entire salad as well. The crunch of the peanuts will be a delicious factor along with all the other ingredients!
Now your delicious salad dressing is finallyyyy ready to be drizzled over the entire salad – the moment we have all been waiting for! Drizzle delicately or drizzle A LOT – neither is wrong & is totally up to you! The ramen will absorb a bit of the dressing & give it a saucy effect – perfect with all the veggies that lay in wait underneath.
Hot or Cold.
Ew, no I am not suggesting that this salad could be served hot – cold only please. I am referring to how impressed I am that ramen can be hot or cold and still be damn delicious! I love a good bowl of ramen soup in the winter, but cold ramen really hits the spot on a cool, crunchy salad as well! The versatility of Ramen is unmatched. I chose ramen as my noodle of choice for this salad because it is sturdy enough to hold onto sauce & it mixes well with other veggies, but it’s not sticky or super thin like a glass noodle that clumps together and ((literally)) gets lost in the sauce. ((peanut dressing)) While I realize summer is rapidly coming to a close ((thank da Lort)) I have no doubt that this salad will stick around until September & then make a reappearance in May, juuuuust when the weather starts to get a little too warm for oven meals! Swap out your choice of tropical fruits & let me know what you think! From my noodle-loving heart to yours, kale ‘em with kindness!
Thanks for stopping by!
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If you hated it, then same.
Have a great day & look for my next entry!
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