Thai Chicken Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

·        4 chicken breasts (2 whole breasts, split to make 4 pieces)

·        2 cups cloves of garlic, finely chopped

·        2 whole shallots, finely chopped

·        salt & pepper

·        vegetable oil

·        2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded

·        1 cup cucumber, sliced (not too thin)

·        1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped

·        1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

·        1/2 cup dry rice vermicelli (from Asian grocery stores)

·        1 cup chili lime vinaigrette (see below)

Chili Lime Vinaigrette:

·        4 oz. water

·        1 oz. lime juice

·        2 oz. Vietnamese fish sauce (Asian grocery store)

·        1 oz. sugar

·        1 t. chopped garlic

·        1 T. chopped red chili pepper

·        2 T. vegetable or olive oil

Preparation

Mix together water, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Add garlic, chili pepper and oil, set aside.

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add rice vermicelli, remove after 3-4 minutes when almost soft. Strain in colander.

Marinate chicken breasts in the garlic, shallots, salt & pepper and touch

of vegetable oil. When ready to cook, grill chicken on both sides until done. Cut into bite size pieces. In each of four bowls, divide lettuce and cucumbers. Top with the vermicelli. Arrange chicken on top of vermicelli. Pour about 2 ounces of the chili vinaigrette on each salad. Sprinkle with fresh mint and peanuts and serve.