BANH MI INSPIRED CHOPPED SALAD

We are lucky to live in a very diverse part of California. Seriously, San Jose has to have some of the best cuisines out there.  From Mexican, to Indian, German, and Asian; it’s everywhere, and it’s all amazing!  As great as all these restaurants are, it can get expensive to go out all the time to get this kind of food.  Especially when you have a bazillion* mouths to feed. (*exaggeration) The easy way to solve that is to just make it at home and I’ve been craving Vietnamese lately, so I created this Banh Mi Inspired Chopped Salad.

Traditionally Banh Mi is a sandwich stuffed with chicken, pickled veggies, cucumber, sriracha etc.  The flavor combination is out of this world good.  As much as I want a big ol’ sando filled with all the goods, bread and I aren’t really friends right now.  That’s why this recipe is a spin off of the traditional Banh Mi.  All the same flavors, minus the bready bread bread.

I have a spectacular Banh Mi Sandwich (that uses plantains and is Whole30) in my first e-book ALMOST AUTHENTIC if you are looking for something that is more like the traditional ones you see in restaurants.  Both the recipe in the book and this salad are delicious!

You can make your own sriracha or buy store bought.  Just note, that if you are on a Whole30, you will need to make it yourself.  Michelle Tam from NomNom Paleo has a sriracha recipe which you can get HERE  It’s very easy to make.

You can also make your own pickled veggies, buy some, or use Kimchi. To make your own pickled veggies simply pack a mason jar with veggies of your choice.  Pour vinegar 3/4 of the way and fill the additional 1/4 with water.  Close and place in fridge.  They will be ready in an hour.

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BANH MI INSPIRED CHOPPED SALAD

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts
• 2 tbl oil or fat of choice
• 2 12 oz bags of a salad mix that has lettuce, carrots, cabbage, radish in it.
• 1 cup pickled veggies
• Drizzle of sriracha
• OPTIONAL: sliced cucumber, sliced radish, cilantro
FOR CHICKEN MARINADE:
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tbl rice vinegar
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1/2 piece of lemongrass, sliced
FOR DRESSING:
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• 1 tbl apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbl olive oil or avocado oil
• 2 tbl finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• Juice of 1/2 lime

Instructions

1. Marinate your chicken breast by combining marinade ingredients together. Let sit for an hour or overnight.
2. To make your dressing mix everything together and set aside salad is ready.
3. Place lettuce mix in a bowl.
4. Heat up a skillet with 2 tbl oil or fat of choice.
5. Once hot, place chicken in and let cook 7 minutes per side. Set aside and let rest for 5 minutes.
6. Once chicken has cooled slice up and place in salad.
7. Add your pickled veggies, fresh cucumber, radish and cilantro if using.
8. Drizzle the sriracha and dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

0.1

My children really enjoy this, even with the sriracha in it.  If your kids (or you) don’t like spice, you can omit!

TIP:  I like to buy the pre-made chopped salad kits from the store.  I just toss out the packets that it comes with.

Whole30: yes

Paleo: yes