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Happy, happy Spring!!
Finally, right? I am SO ready.
Good weather from here on out, right? Yeah, right,
No, but get this, it is actually sunny today… and not snowing. Yes, yes, yes!! Last year it was a full on blizzard as I recall. I am kind of hoping that this year, since we have so much snow that it’s insane, that spring will be sunny and maybe not freezing. But I would take just sunny because when the sun is out around here, it just feels warm. Yesterday I do believe the brother with the broken neck (Creighton) actually did some laying in the sun, just for 20 minutes or so, but he actually got a little sunburned.
FYI, I know breaking your neck is serious business, but he kind of has the life if you ask me.
I mean, sitting in the sun, mid day, with nothing to get done. Sounds sort of nice.
But anyway, what better way to welcome spring with colors!
Lots and lots of them.
Oh, and lemongrass, which is a new and favorite ingredient for me.
So good.
Ok, so truth be told, I don’t have a whole lot of words today.
Actually, I feel like that has been the case all week, but I have never called myself a writer so I feel like this sort of thing is inevitable.
We’ll just let the photos do the talking today.
But, I do have to say, the flavors in this salad are spot on amazing. It is a deconstructed spring roll, so no rolling and easier eating. Plus, there are homemade crackers involved and we all know that makes everything a little more fun… and kind of delicious.
Ok, just straight up delicious.
I am sort of extra tired. You see, I have been working on this “thing” all week, and if all goes well I am hoping to share tomorrow. We shall see…
For now, lets toast spring with spring roll salads!
Deconstructed Vietnamese Chicken, Avocado + Lemongrass Spring Roll Salad.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders or swap in shrimp
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon spicy curry powder
- 1 clove garlic, grated
Salad
- 1 1/2 cups cooked vermicelli noodles, chopped
- 1 1/2 large avocado's, sliced thin
- 1 large carrot, thin julienne cuts (like match sticks)
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into small sticks
- 1 large head butter lettuce, chopped
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup each fresh basil, mint and cilantro - roughly chopped
- 4 stalks lemongrass, sliced
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup roasted cashews
Chips + Dressing
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 red chile peppers, seeded + finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 40-60 wonton wrappers, cut into triangles or circles
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Instructions
- To make the dressing and chips. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a medium size bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the ginger, garlic, minced red chile peppers, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil and fish sauce (you will add the peanut butter to the dressing later). Whisk well. Arrange the wontons in a single layer on the baking sheet (you may need 2 baking sheets). Brush each wonton with a thinish coating of the dressing and then sprinkle sesame seeds over the crackers. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the chips are crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and repeat with another batch if needed.
- Whisk the peanut butter into the remaining dressing. If needed thin with 1-2 tablespoons water. Set aside until ready to serve.
- In a medium size bowl combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, lime juice, curry powder, and garlic. Whisk to combine and add the chicken, toss well. Heat a skillet to medium high heat and add the chicken and all the liquids. Brown the chicken for about 6 minutes on both sides or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced. Remove from the heat allow to cool and then slice into strips. You may also grill the chicken if desired.
- In a large bowl combine the chicken vermicelli noodles, avocado, carrots, bell peppers, chopped lettuce, green onions, basil, mint and cilantro, lemongrass, sesame seeds and cashews. Lightly toss and add the dressing, toss again, divide the salad among bowls and serve with the hoisin sesame chips. EAT right away. You can also create and assembly line of ingredients and create your own salads.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
And hopefully sunny skies too!
delicius
Thank you!
good job
Thanks!
It’s a great project! I like upcycler
Thanks!
Delicious!! I did lunch today and everyone loved it 🙂
So happy to hear that! Thank you Marcos!
How many serves are those quantities? 🙂 thanksss!
looks yummy 😛
Hi! This salad will serve 4-6 people. Please let me know if you have other questions. Thanks!
Wow! Im just gonna try do it in this weekend!
Thank you!
Hope you love it Bethany! Thanks (:
I loved it, I’ll do it.
Hope you love it, thanks!
It looks delicious, congratulations!
Thank you!
It’s a great project! I like upcycler
Awesome!
Incredible salad! Thank you
Where did you learn to cook? Incredible! Can t wIt to make this.
I’ve made this salad twice now. It is soooo good I just can’t even! The combination of creamy peanut satay, crisp veges, the subtle spice of the chicken and the vermecelli noodles to mop up all the deliciousness is just perfection! I cant wait to impress guests with this at a summer dinner party!
THANK YOU! I am so excited you love this recipe. It’s one of my favorites too! 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight. I used pork tenderloin instead of the chicken, and since we are low-carbers, I did not use the noodles or the crackers. Regardless, there is so much flavor going on that I don’t think we really missed anything. The dressing in particular is to DIE FOR!
YA! So excited you loved this and I love the pork swap. THANKS!
I just found your blog and cannot stop clicking on everything! This is first up on my very long to-make list. Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Thank you so much! Hope you love everything you make!
I’ve been cooking for almost 50 years…most of them as a darn good cook- your recipe is one of the best things to ever come out of my kitchen. Thank you so much!
PS. Lemongrass is very easy to grow & it keeps producing -the stalks from the grocery can even be rooted.
Thank you!! So happy you love this!!