Chopped Cashew Chicken Salad

It is always nice to have a few quick, no-cooking-required, refreshing meals ready to pull out in the summertime.  And if they happen to be hearty and delicious in addition to that?  Well nobody is going to complain about that.  This salad is loaded up with healthy veggies, but you won't feel like you're eating health food (always a nice bonus).  Add in the protein from the lean chicken and the good oils from the nuts and you have one fully loaded salad.  Also, the sesame oil in both the dressing and on the chicken give it a great depth of flavor that you will not want to miss!

Chopped Cashew Chicken Salad

Number of Servings: 6
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes

• 1/2 cup roasted, salted cashews
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp chopped shallots
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1/8-1/4 tsp black pepper

• 3-4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I get a rotisserie chicken from Costco) 
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 4-5 cups shredded Napa cabbage
• 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 cup roughly chopped snow peas
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2-1 cup roasted, salted cashews

 For the dressing, chop the 1/2 cup cashews in a blender or food processor until finely ground.  Add the ginger, cilantro, shallots, vinegar, lime juice, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, garlic, honey, canola oil, and pepper.  Blend until mostly smooth.  Set aside.

Toss the chicken with 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp sesame oil.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and lettuce.  Top with the snow peas, carrots, green onion, cilantro, and chicken.  Just before serving, toss the salad in the dressing and sprinkle the cashews on top.  (You can toss the whole salad with all the dressing, or just part at a time if you want to save some for leftovers.)

Source: slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Produce Used: Ginger, cilantro, shallots, lime, garlic, Napa cabbage, romaine, snow peas, carrots, green onion