WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN










WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN!!
I hope you enjoy the food!!!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Thai Banana and Chilli Salad with Thai Style Chicken

Cookbook Challenge Challenge #2 - Citrus Fruits

The question has been raised on other blogsites as to whether a salad is a "bloggable" item?

Well certainly not the salads of my youth.

I still remember them......on those hot summer's nights my mother used to artfully arrange the salad on our plates.  The piece of iceberg lettuce, the wedges of tomato, slice of cheese, a little beetroot, perhaps some grated carrot and a hard boiled egg, and of course cold meat of some kind.  Then for something a little exotic - she added a slice of orange!!  The dressing of course was a dollop of mayonnaise!  Thank goodness we have moved on from those days.  I think the only places you will find a salad like that now is in nursing homes, or RSL clubs (oh, and maybe perhaps at my mum's!)

So I say, yes a salad is a bloggable item if it is truly a salad that brings together a melange of flavours that you probably never would have considered before.  Such is the case of last night's salad.  I am not sure where I got the recipe for this salad - but I seem to recall pulling it from a newspaper many years ago and making it on the spur of the moment - needless to say it has become an integral part of our summer repertoire now.




This was one of those meals where the side was where the idea started - so what to serve with it?  Some kind of barbecued chicken.  I went and purchased all the items necessary to make the salad, and some chicken drumsticks and a couple of breast pieces, not really knowing what I was going to do with the chicken, but here is what unfolded.....



Thai Style Marinated Chicken


Serves 6

Combination of chicken drumsticks (skin removed) and breast pieces 1-2 pieces per person

4tbs fish sauce
6 cloves crushed garlic
1 tbs light soy sauce
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 tbs palm sugar, grated (I actually used 1 cube of Jeeny's - which is 15g)

Combine all the above ingredients and place in a large ziploc bag.  Add the chicken pieces and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes - longer if possible.

When ready heat the BBQ, by turning to high, but once warm, turn down to low.  Add the chicken drumsticks and cook for around 15-20 minutes, turning several times.  You have to cook them slowly to ensure they cook all the way through and just don't burn on the outside!!  Add the breasts for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time (depending on the thickness of the pieces).





Thai Banana and Chilli Salad

2-3 bananas, (depending on size) sliced
assorted salad greens
1 lebanese cucumber, sliced
1 cup of snow pea sprouts
1/4 cut chopped mint
1/4 cup chopped coriander
chopped roasted cashews or peanuts to garnish

Dressing

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
1 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs lime juice (approx 1 lime)
1 tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk (you can use light)

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar.  Shake to combine.

Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl (except the bananas).  Just before serving add the bananas and the dressing, mix well.  Top with the chopped nuts.


It was a truly lovely light summer's meal.  The underlying lime notes, the kick of the chilli, the sweetness of the banana - yumm!!!

Give it a go - you will be pleasantly surprised!

So Dear Readers what memories do you have of salads of your childhood?  What are the strangest combinations (that have worked) have you tried in a salad?  Do tell.

8 comments:

  1. Hi! Great to see you back!

    Lovely fresh idea for dinner. Salad is definately bloggable :)

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  2. Hope you yhad a good break. This recipe looks delicious, I love Thai flavours. Diane

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  3. This salad is definitely bloggable! Oh you brought back memories of salads in years gone past. And did your mum use Praise or Kraft mayonnaise which was that awful tangy stuff? That was a staple in our house :P

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  4. I'm not sure about the mayo - I could have sworn it was ETA?? It was awfully tangy - but I loved eating it off the spoon - which when I said that in the USA once I had people giving me a very strange look!?

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  5. Hey!! Welcome back!! Love those chickens.

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  6. The Thai banana chilli salad looks AMAZING. Definitely one to try. I'll definitely make the chicken for my husband and marinate some tofu for the girls. Beautiful!

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  7. What a fantastic looking salad!

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  8. I love using palm sugar and lime in chicken marinade... It will add wonderful moist to the chicken... I am drooling over the chicken :)

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