Visions of Salad: Peanut Chicken with Kale

Most people probably wouldn’t look at a recipe for chicken kebabs and immediately think, I could turn that into a salad! But where’s the fun in being like most people? I’d been hankering for a salad with chicken and a peanut-based sauce,  and no fear of being different was going to stop me.

As often happens, it all started in a very different place from where it ended. I saw a recipe in Bon Appetit for a stir-fry with chicken, greens, and peanuts. Before looking at the recipe in depth, my imagination skipped ahead to a peanut sauce covering dark green kale. The contrast of a smooth peanut sauce and a slightly bitter green seemed irresistible (kale is always so fun to dress up). Then I actually looked at the recipe and didn’t see what I wanted. So, like the persistent cook that I am, I took the kale base idea and went searching for a peanut sauce and chicken recipe to top it.

It wasn’t long before I found a potential recipe in What to Cook and How to Cook It. It was for chicken kebabs, but the sauce was what got me. I already have a peanut sauce recipe in my repertoire, but why not try another one? This sauce uses the food processor for the first part, but then the mixture gets sautéed in a pan for a bit (you can use the pan you sautéed the kale in, so this extra step isn’t going to create more dishes). Then you add the peanut butter, water, and fish sauce, and let heat do its magic, melting the peanut butter into a sauce flavored with garlic, jalapeno (seeds removed, unless you want it extra hot), garlic, and cumin.

I know this begs the question: which sauce is better? Well, they’re both great. This peanut sauce is thicker than my previous one, which makes it perfect for coating diced chicken (the other sauce, used in a chicken and cabbage salad, seems better as a salad dressing, since it’s runnier).  The just-wilted kale takes well to both the chicken and the sauce, as I knew it would. A couple extra, not-too-difficult steps are totally worth it here. I’m all about simplifying, so I do not make this statement lightly.

So the next time you look at a recipe and see that it could be something completely different, trust yourself and know you’re not alone. It’s how some of the best things get made.

Peanut Chicken with Kale
Adapted from What to Cook and How to Cook It

1 bunch kale, leaves coarsely chopped (discard stems)
2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small jalepeno chile, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon safflower oil, plus more for cooking
4 heaping tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon fish sauce

1. Heat a little oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the kale leaves and cook, stir occasionally, until just wilted. Transfer wilted kale to a large bowl. Set aside the pan to use for the peanut sauce.
2. In a separate skillet, heat a little oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Combine the chile, onion, garlic, cumin, and 1 tablespoon oil in a food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth with tiny bits of onion still visible.
4. Heat a little oil over medium-low heat in the same skillet you wilted the kale in. Add the onion mixture and let cook and thicken, stirring often, for 4 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter, water, and the fish sauce (a whisk is great for this part, to make sure everything is well combined).
5. Add the chicken to the skillet, stirring to coat in the peanut sauce. Serve the chicken over the kale for individual servings, or add all the chicken to the bowl with the kale to make a salad.

Shredded, not boiled: Chicken salad with cabbage and peanut sauce

When you grow up in a half-Irish, half-Scottish family, you know cabbage in just one way—boiled beyond recognition. Among otherwise very happy memories of St. Patrick’s day, there is corned beef and cabbage, with the poor cabbage wilted and watery. I’m not commenting on anyone’s cooking abilities; the recipe all but says “chop cabbage and boil to death.”

This is not the story of how I learned to love boiled cabbage. Instead,this is the story of how I learned to love fresh cabbage. The inspiration started with the salads Thomas’s mother makes, combining shredded cabbage with a variety of ingredients. Those tasty salads opened my mind to the possibilities of fresh cabbage, so when I saw a recipe for chicken salad in Gourmet, I didn’t balk at the suggestion to use coleslaw mix as the salad base, but instead thought, why not just use cabbage? So that’s how I wound up buying a heavy head of cabbage, something that until then never appeared in my shopping cart (hey, those childhood cabbage memories have lasting effects!).

This is a recipe with many perks. It’s a great way to use leftover chicken (and cooking up a bit of chicken takes hardly any time). It provides an excellent peanut sauce recipe, something you can use again and again (you could make a bunch and keep it on hand for kebabs, salads, and other meals). The salad could incorporate various veggies, like the red bell peppers and celery here, and once you’ve chopped those, all you have to do is mix everything together in the largest salad bowl you have.

Besides the chicken, this salad requires no cooking, and it’s for people who like a lot of raw vegetables. The cabbage stays crunchy and offers texture to the salad even when drenched in sauce. Up-front soy sauce and rice vinegar flavors make the peanut sauce a little more complex—and tasty—than the stuff from the bottle. If you’re pressed for time, you can skip grinding the peanuts and sprinkling them in the salad. I left the fresh ginger out of the sauce, but feel free to add a peeled 1-inch piece when blending the other sauce ingredients.

The biggest proof that I had truly learned to love fresh cabbage was, of course, that I wanted to make the salad again. This salad might never appear on the table at an Irish party. Then again, would you be surprised if everyone there chose this over boiled cabbage? I wouldn’t be.

Chicken Salad with Cabbage and Peanut Sauce
Adapted from Gourmet

¼ cup halved peanuts (salted or unsalted)
1 large garlic clove
2/3 cup smooth no-stir peanut butter
6 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons olive or sesame oil, plus more for cooking chicken
1 teaspoon sugar
Red-pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
1 pound chicken breast, cubed
½ head of cabbage, shredded
3 celery ribs, chopped into small pieces
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 bunch green onions (scallions), diced
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add cubed chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is fully cooked. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, pulse peanuts in a food processor until they are reduced to small pieces. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
3. In the food processor, pulse the garlic clove until finely chopped. Add peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, sugar, and red-pepper flakes (if using). Blend until a smooth sauce forms.
4. In a large bowl, combine cabbage, chicken, celery, bell pepper, green onions, and cilantro. Stir in peanut sauce in batches until vegetables are well coated. Sprinkle ground peanuts over the salad, stirring a couple of times to combine.