Crystal's Cozy Kitchen: Chinese Chicken Salad

Honestly I do not get computers sometimes... Windows explorer said that 'The directory name is invalid' for these photos... Photoshop would not open them all at once (how I typically try to edit) and Adobe Bridge would not allow me to look at them. Luckily, Photoshop did let me open them one. at. a. time. Believe it or not there were actually about 20 more photos that did not make it to this post, but I had to open them all to see what they were.

There are two things I've realized. I can sometimes get really bitter at my computer. Second, I realize how easy it is to forget how much harder things can be... I open 100 pictures in photoshop all the time! I can pretty much tell you that if I had to open them one at a time I would not post nearly as many step by step posts!

Thanks for being patient while I was dealing with my minor tech issue. I'm glad that I haven't actually lost anything. Speaking of which, I need to back up my photos again... it's been about a month!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Adapted from Chinese Chicken Salad with Red Chile Peanut Dressing

First, you'll need chicken. I just pan fried my chicken with a bit of salt and garlic powder (not seen above as I hadn't seasoned the top half yet...

You can use shredded rotisserie chicken as the original recipe suggests, or you can even use the chicken for the Thai Peanut Noodle Salad - it would work great!

If you pan fry the chicken, let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

For the salad dressing you'll need:

1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger.

I just grate mine and chop it up a bit with a knife. Works great ;). Place it in a bowl.

2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar. Just dump it in as well.

next add 1 tsp of adobo sauce from a can like this one:

I froze the peppers and sauce in ice cubes to avoid throwing it away... I've never, ever used a whole can of this stuff.

You'll also need Sesame Seed Oil.

Dump in 2 tsp of the stuff!

You'll also need Soy Sauce.

pour in 1 Tbsp of it.

You'll also need honey.

Also 1 Tbsp of it.

You'll need 2 Tbsp peanut butter as well.

You'll also need canola oil.

1/4 cup of it.

Add 1/2 tsp fish sauce as well.

Mix them all together.

A nice brown dressing - I love peanut sauces, but don't necessarily love how they look!

Now for the salad ingredients:

You'll need lettuce (this is green leaf, but you can use whatever kind you want!)

We also had red cabbage (also you can use whatever kind of cabbage you want - napa is in the original recipe), chopped up dry roasted peanuts, cilantro and sliced green onions.