Last week, I invited my girlfriend Darby and her sweet baby Ellie over for a little ladies’ lunch at my house. I was craving something light and seasonal, so I tossed together my favorite asian chicken salad full of crunchy edamame, cool cucumber and salty peanuts. Of course I’ll share the recipe, but first, I’ve got to tell you how our little get-together came about. It started with a case of love at first sight, when I laid eyes on these gorgeous clothbound classics at Anthro…
From Anne of Green Gables to The Secret Garden, these beauties (designed by Coralie Bickford Smith) included my favorite books in the world growing up, and I couldn’t resist taking them home to pass on to another little girl to experience. Since Ellie’s baptism was right around the corner, I couldn’t think of a sweeter way to mark the occasion.
Ellie was perfectly ladylike as she gently ripped the flowery paper and tugged at the pink ribbon…until she tried to eat it, of course! (A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!) After leafing through the pages (and letting me take about a million photos) her mom and I sat down to heaping plates of chilled asian chicken salad, and spent an afternoon enjoying good food and laughing at Ellie’s antics.
Crunchy Asian Salad
- 1 head Napa cabbage, cut into 1/4-inch strips
- 1 small head red cabbage, cored and chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and julienned
- 2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
- 1 large English cucumber, peeled, cored & cut into thin half-moons
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup basil, chopped
- 2 cups cooked shelled edamame
- 1/2 cups roasted peanuts, chopped
- 4 cooked chicken breasts, chilled
- Lime-cilantro dressing
- 2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch dice (optional)
- Thai peanut dressing
- Place cabbages, carrots, scallions, cucumber, cilantro, basil, edamame and peanuts in very large mixing bowl and toss to mix.
- Cut chicken into ½-inch cubes and add to mixing bowl.
- Pour lime-cilantro dressing into bowl and toss to mix thoroughly. Divide salad among four, very large, chilled serving plates.
- Sprinkle salads with diced avocado, toasted peanuts, & cilantro.
- Drizzle Thai peanut dressing over salad
*note: thanks to a very astute reader, I realized this salad was actually inspired not by my friend who passed it along, but by a California Pizza Kitchen recipe for their Thai Crunch Salad. Thanks for giving me a heads up, and thanks to CPK for being so darn delicious! 
That salad looks beyond scrumptious. Your posts are always so inspiring
xx
Camille @ Paris in Pink
This salad was divine!
mmmmm
Thanks ladies…seriously, you’ve gotta try it. You’ll be hooked!
It’s early, but I’m not seeing the recipe for the two dressings? I’d love to try this. Sounds great. Email to me! Thanks, R
She is going to love those books one day! I was barely able to resist buying them when I saw them at Anthropologie. The color combinations they picked for the covers and text are stunning. Also, your salad looks so fresh and amazing! I’m going to need to try it – it’s been far too long since I’ve had cabbage!
Looks DELICIOUS! Looking for something interesting to make tomorrow for a dinner at my place…hmmm this may be an option…!! Thanks!
)))))))
@Linnea – Right?! I wanted to buy them SO bad, but knew I didn’t really need them for myself…so was thrilled to indulge my love affair w/ them by gifting the set to Ellie.
@Rebecca – Thanks for pointing this out…should have specified that I took the lazy route and went with prepared dressings this time, albeit delicious ones nonetheless. For the Lime-Cilantro, I used this one:
http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/shop/speciality-foods/dressings-oils/dressings/141110.html
And for the Thai Peanut, just about ANY of the classic peanut sauces on the thai aisle of the grocery store will do just fine.
Yum! This salad looks so good. Going to make it this week!
OH my goodness! Perfect for summer. Can’t wait to impress the hubs with this one
Seriously Camille, I don’t even like salads but this one looks delicious!