Crunchy veggies, chicken, peanuts and crispy noodles tossed with a lip smackingly delicious Asian Peanut Salad Dressing. This Chinese Chicken Salad is going to knock your socks off. It’s my summer-salad-anthem!
Reducing waste and eating healthier
This is a story about five amazing women. Wives of Aussie farmers. Mothers with university degrees and professional backgrounds who also happen to be the “go-to” person for anything and everything that needs to be done on a farm.
Something that many city folk like myself may never think about is all the millions of tons of fruit and veg that are deemed “not good enough” to be sold in stores. The ugly, wonky ones. Blemished skin. Slightly misshaped. Too big, too small. Too round, not round enough.
And yet, 100% perfect inside.
There has been an increasing number of imperfect fruit and veg sold in Australian stores at discounted prices. But they are still a very small percentage of the Ugly Yet Perfect fruit and veg that ultimately goes to waste.
And when a group of Aussie Queensland carrot growers bandied together to do something about it, who did they turn to for a solution?
Their wives. 🙂 Meet the five amazing Australian women who are the driving force behind Just Veg, the line of “grab and go” vegetable and meal options. Reducing waste and helping people eat healthier.
Here’s the thing. Some people will declare pre-prepared veggies to be the lazy way out. My view is this: if grabbing a bag of pre chopped vegetables means that you’ll make a stir fry at home rather than ordering take out, or be able to throw together a quick 2 minute salad than not have veggies at all, then it’s a good thing.
So by my simple minded logic, I’m Pro-prepared-vegetables. 🙂
And when it comes to pre chopped carrots, you cannot beat Just Veg. Why? Very simple. These carrots are shredded and packed by the very farmers who grow the carrots. These carrots are being chopped within hours of being harvested. How good is that??!
I wanted to make something that really emphasised the convenience of the Just Veg carrots and showcased how crunchy and fresh they are. And this is what I’ve come up with: Chinese Chicken Salad with an Asian Peanut Salad Dressing that’s so good, it should be illegal. 🙂
Yes, you have to chop the cabbage yourself – Just Veg don’t do shredded cabbage (yet 😉 ). But really, shredded cabbage is WAY easier than julienning carrots.
I had this for lunch four days in a row. Testing, retesting, photographing and filming. You’d think I’d get sick of it. Nope. I had it for lunch again today. It’s just too easy to make!
Regular readers know that I am very aware that the food I share often leans towards “brown foods”. You know – ugly but yummy foods like Bangers and Mash with Gravy (swoon) and Salisbury Steak (double swoon…)
So what a delight it is to be sharing this kaleidoscope of colour with you today!!! Gosh, seriously, if all my foods were this pretty, it would make my photographing life a whole lot easier….
PS Notice how little chopping is required?? Just the cabbage really. The shallots / scallions / green onions (yawn – so tired of using all three “languages”!) are optional. As in – you wouldn’t miss it terribly if you didn’t have it in the salad. 🙂
PPS I love inserting photos like this in posts because it irritates my mother no end. She thinks it looks “messy”. It makes her twitch – ba ha ha!
The Asian Peanut Dressing can be served on the side for people to help themselves (I do this when I make this for guests) or toss it through prior to serving. Up to you. If doing the former, I suggest making extra dressing. Just in case you have friends who can’t control themselves (like mine).
Just Veg shredded carrots is now part of my standard weekly shop. I know shredding carrots isn’t hard, but having a bag of Just Veg shredded carrots is just way easier. Which means I’m eating more of it. I’m adding it into sandwiches and wraps. I made carrot fritters last night (really delish Middle Eastern ones), I threw carrots into frittata. It’s going into virtually every salad and I even stirred it into bolognese for a lasagna.
What really sealed the deal for me was chatting to Alice, one of the amazing women who are the driving force behind Just Veg. Her passion for what she does, it really struck a cord. And when I asked her what the most rewarding thing about Just Veg was, she said it was connecting with the consumers. Hearing what they used their carrots for, what they thought. It really resonated with me because Just Veg is her baby in the same way that RecipeTin Eats is mine, and one of the most rewarding things for me is when I hear from readers when they have tried (or even before they have tried!) a recipe.
Plus, it just makes me feel warm and fuzzy that when I grab a bag of Just Veg from Woolworths each week, I know it’s supporting Aussie growers and their families. <3 – Nagi x
PS When you try Just Veg, send them a message here! They LOVE hearing from people, tell them what you think of their carrots!
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Chinese Chicken Salad with Asian Peanut Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- 2 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp canola oil (or vegetable, grapeseed or peanut oil)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp+ Sriracha
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp + 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp water (or lime juice)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/2 tsp ginger , freshly grated
Salad
- 1 1/2 cups Chinese cabbage / Napa cabbage , shredded
- 1 cup red cabbage , shredded
- 1 1/2 cups carrots , julienned (I used Just Veg pre shredded carrots) (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
- 1 shallot / green onion / scallion , finely sliced on the diagonal
- 1/4 cup peanuts , roughly chopped
- 1/4+ cups crunchy fried noodles (I use Changs)
Instructions
- Mix Dressing in a jug or small bowl. Use water to adjust consistency (it should be pretty thick and gloopy), Sriracha for spiciness and saltiness with salt (not more soy sauce).
- Place all Salad ingredients in a bowl, reserving some noodles, peanuts and shallots for topping. Drizzled with Dressing and toss. Garnish with remaining noodles, peanuts and shallots and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
All. That. COLOUR.
Life of Dozer
Dozer is a fan of Just Veg too….
More salads to try using Just Veg shredded carrots
This post is sponsored by Just Veg. It’s an honour to work for a business and people who I find so inspiring. I love the story behind Just Veg, I believe in supporting Aussie farmers and their families, and I’m proud to have been selected to participate in this campaign. Thank you for reading!
I made this recipe for my dinner and it was so delicious! My new favourite salad!
Made this using different veggies we had on hand. Soooo good!
Made this in prep for my two day shifts, had a little sample and its devine! I used the changi GF crispy noodles, GF light soy and poached some chicken breast to shred – its nice, fresh and tasty – will be making again! thank you
Made this today for a bring a plate lunch soooo delish
I am happy you liked it Kym! N x
Really delicious, but the addition of mandarin oranges would have put it over the top!
Nice idea Kathryn! N x
I’m thrilled to find this recipe, especially the dressing. It’s the same stuff that was served at a BBQ joint in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. The best BBQ in the area, owned by an Asian family. It’s been 20 years, I still fondly remember their food.
Hi Nagi,
I don’t have fresh ginger, can I substitute with the dry powder? If so, how much please?
Thank you!
It’s not quite the same but 1/4 tsp of powder will be fine. N x
Your logic about pre-chopped veg is so so true!! I’ve been able to eat way more veg and prepare meals at home this way.
Made this tonight and absolutely loved it!!! Such a great dressing – genius!
I’m so glad you loved it Ming! N x
Awesome recipe! So fresh and easy! I added fresh jicama and mint. Delicious and healthy. Yum!
Love this idea Michelle, sounds great! N x
I could eat this every day for lunch. Delicious!
That’s awesome Sandy – I could too! N x
Nagi, thank.you for the super fast response. Another question – I have a sealed package of wonton skins with a date of 2015 on the package. These have been frozen that whole time. Would these be safe to use, or should I toss?.
Hi Nagi, I am ready to try this recipe, but I cannot find the crispy noodles here in Texas. Would wonton strips work as a substitute? similar to this recipe — https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/222814/crispy-chinese-noodles-restaurant-style/
Hi Michelle, great idea – they would be terrific!
Made this for the first, but certainly not for the last, time. So fresh and crunchy and the dressing was fantastic! I’ve never heard of crunchy fried noodles and was out of egg noodles, so I fried some rice noodles instead. Maybe someone who knows the difference wouldn’t approve, but I thought that worked very well.
While making the salad I was sure that the servings should be 4, it made a BIG bowl, but to my surprise I actually ate half of it and got full in a very pleasant way.
Great to hear Anna!
Yum! Thank you Nagi, my family loved this!
We have had heaps of chicken lately, so instead I cooked up a rump steak, with just oil/salt/pepper, then sliced that thinly added to salad. Winner, thank you again.
Sounds terrific Jo!
I made this and am in love! I cheated a little more than just with the carrot and got the bag of coleslaw mix (green and purple cabbage) was so yummy along marinated thai chicken!
Glad you enjoyed it Anna!! Thanks for sharing your feedback 🙂 N x
I’m so sorry – of course, I meant that I was a reader outside of Australia. Ups…
Hi Irene! I find these ingredients are easier to measure by cups but I will try to remember to measure in weight next time I make this!! N xx
Wow, thank you so much for this delicious recipe! We loved it so much!
Making it again tomorrow, because it was THAT good.
Only the conversion of the ingredients from cups to grams was a little tedious (I’m a reader outside the US),
so I was wondering, if maybe you would consider adding measurements in grams to your recipes in the future?
That would be so helpful! Because I am definitely eyeing many other great sounding recipes of yours.
So glad I found your blog!
Thanks again 🙂
This sounds soooooo goooooood! I’m going to make it for lunch tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day……
Hope you do get a chance to try it!!
Loved this! The people at work were jealous of my lunch!
Couldn’t find rice wine vinegar. Only found “rice cooking wine” and “Rice Vinegar” so I used half of each. Bean sprouts were tough to find too, surprisingly. I found out Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell them anymore.
Wonderful recipe! Thank you so much!