Thai Chicken Slaw

Asian slaws are one of my most favorite salads of all time!  They are hearty, don't wilt and have tons of flavor and COLOR!  With colder temps upon us things can get kind of dreary and boring.  Who wouldn't welcome a pop of color and flavor?  This is a great salad to eat throughout the colder months because cabbage is readily available and even inexpensive.  In fact, the components of this salad are all inexpensive and pack a lot of nutritional punch!

I don't usually put chicken on my Asian salads but I couldn't resist slow cooking this chicken in the crock pot with some sweet chili sauce and coconut milk!  I love those flavors in Asian dishes. The result is an amazingly moist and delicious meat to shred over your salad.

Thai Chicken Slaw
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

For the marinade:
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup canned coconut milk (full-fat)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2-3 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
1 lime, juiced
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Whisk marinade ingredients together in a medium-sized saucepan. If sauce seems too thick feel free to add more lime juice or vinegar.   Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer about 3-4 minutes.  

Place chicken in a crock pot and pour about 1/3 cup of the marinade over it, reserving the rest for the dressing on the salad.  Cook on high heat 4-5 hours or until shreds easily.  Remove chicken from crock pot and shred the return it to crock pot to sit in the juices.

For the salad:
1/4 red cabbage, thinly shredded
1/4 green cabbage, thinly shredded
3 green onions, sliced
1 large cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced and chopped
1 cup frozen, thawed edamame (look for non-GMO on the packaging)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2-3 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped

Place all salad ingredients in a large salad bowl and toss.

To serve, top individual salad servings with shredded chicken and reserved dressing.


SOURCE: Adapted from How Sweet It Is