Pad Thai Salad with Peanut Sesame Dressing

It’s salad season, and layered salads in a jar are a new lunch trend.  This one was recently offered in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, but in case you missed it, we’d like to share it.  It was published in the “Eat” section on Thursday, June 2, 2016.

Ingredients:

For the dressing:
3 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 1/2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 teaspoon sriracha, optional

For the salad:
1/2 small red cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped or shredded
4 ounces lettuce
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
1 cup bean sprouts
2 carrots, peeled into ribbons
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup roasted and salted peanuts
3 tablespoons sesame seeds

To make dressing:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil and sesame oil until emulsified.
2. Whisk in peanut butter, honey, tamari and sriracha until smooth.
3. Taste.  Adjust if needed.

To assemble salad:

1. Place dressing in bottom of 4 tall containers.
2.  Mix together cabbage and cilantro.  Portion this mixture out into each container.
3.  Add layers of chicken, lettuce, red peppers, bean sprouts, carrots, scallions, peanuts and sesame seeds.
4.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Makes 4 servings.