Probably when most people spy a book like Jeanne Kelleyโsย Salad for Dinnerย at the bookstore or in their library they pick it up and think Mmmm, this looks nice and healthy. Or: I could afford to shake up the Romaine routine. My first thought?ย A veritable treasure trove of potentially deconstructable dinners. True, I can look at almost any meal and envision how it can break down into child-friendly, nothing-touching, no-green-speck meals to please the sauce-o-thropes at the table. (Pasta works, so does a pot roast.) But salads have got to be the most conducive. And if ever there were a cure for the parents who cannot seem to find common ground between their craving for The Way They Used to Eat and their toddlerโs Craving for White Pastaโฆitโs this book. Kelleyโs recipes take you far beyond the barren world of tomato-and-bagged-lettuce salads into the promised land of hearty, healthy, grain-rich, colorful, incredibly flavorful masterpieces youโd serve to any dinner guest โ Seared Salmon with Quinoa, Asparagus, and Spinach; Thai Style Grilled Beef Salad; Toasted Barley, Long Bean, and Shitake Mushroom Salad with Tofu. And yet, very few of them seem out of reach. I opened the book during breakfast, found this jackpot Indonesian Chicken Salad recipe below and realized I had every single thing I needed to get it together for that night. Maybe you do, too.
Indonesian Pineapple, Chicken and Spicy Peanut Salad
Adapted fromย Salad for Dinner,ย by Jeanne Kelley
The peanut dressing is what ups the wow factor here, but itโs definitely spicy, so if you are worried about that with the kids, Iโd limit the Sriracha to about a teaspoon. Also, Kelley instructs roasting the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet along with 1/4 cup of water then tented with foil. (About 40 minutes at 375ยฐF.) I usually poach, but was curious about her method and found it to be much easier. The chicken (bone-in breasts) ended up incredibly tender and shred-friendly.
Spicy Peanut Dressing
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 large garlic clove, pressed
Salad
8 cups thinly sliced cabbage (from about 1 medium head)
1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into strips as shown above
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 pound shredded cooked chicken breast (see note above)
1/2 cup chopped roasted and salted peanuts
lime wedges
In a large bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Season with salt to taste.ย Add the cabbage, pineapple, carrots, red pepper, scallions, cilantro, and chicken and toss to combine. Serve sprinkled with peanuts and a squeeze of lime juice.
If you are deconstructing this salad for kids: Whisk dressing in a separate small bowl and serve separately from salad. (Or in a little dipping bowl, as shown above.) Instead of tossing all the salad ingredients together, place each one in its own clump in a wide shallow bowl, have the kids pick what they want, then proceed to toss for the normal people.
Last year, I couldnโt walk into a food editorโs office without seeing Jeanne Kelleyโs book right on the very top of their cookbook pile with post-its sticking out of every side. I donโt know what took me so long to get my own copy, but I have a feeling Iโm going to be using it a LOT.
We are ALL about deconstructing recipes right now! The big people in our house want TOTALLY different from the little people. Thanks for this!
The deconstructing ethos is also big in my house, where my husband doesnโt eat fruit and my son doesnโt eat nuts.
Yum! Deconstructed salad niรงoise are very popular in our house. Some get poached egg, some get scrambled, some get more tomatoes then others, some get โpink sauceโ (mayo and ketchup) and some get mustard vinaigrette, some like it piled, some donโt, everyone gets tunaโฆ.etc.
Looks delicious โ if I leave out the pineapple, even my husband will eat it.
I have everything for this, too โ such a happy alignment of the planets!
Found your blog during a link following orgy last weekend and fell in love with your writing. I am so far from your target audience: 57, single woman, no children, live in NW MT, work from a home officeโฆ
I look forward to spending more time looking here but for today, thank you for the introduction to the cookbook as well as for this recipe.
Man, this looks so good. I wish I could be more creative with salads, but I have a hubby that refuses to eat any salad dressing except for Ranch. Kind of limits the salad options.
I love salads for dinner and this book looks like it takes a fun and creative approach to salads! I definitely gotta have it!
Thanks for the recommendation, Iโve added this book to my reserves list at the library.
I am trying to fit in at least one โsalad for dinnerโ per week at my house. This book would be great!
what I love about salad for dinner and deconstructed salads is it gives kids a way into learning to like salad. it drives me crazy when people say their kids donโt like salad โ if you give your kids salad for dinner and do it in a way that they can eat what they like, it starts to open up the possibility of eating lots more things, in different combinations and leads to them viewing salad as something they eat. Similarly, good quality salad bars are fun because they can eat and pick from many good choices. we have a routine of having dinner from the whole foods salad bar in certain situations and Iโm always amused at their choices โ completely different from each other and mine, but still great choices.
Hi! The book sounds great, and I was literally surfing over because Iโm shopping tomorrow and planning to have a Big Salad night. Perfect! Will you clarify the chicken roasting method? So you pop the chicken and 1/4 c water onto a roasting pan and put it in the oven for 45 minutes. When do you tent it with foil? After, or when itโs still in the oven? Thanks!
NICE> Great ideas. Wish hubby loved salads more, I cannot get him to eat quinoaโฆ.
That book was a complete game-changer for me. I had never used a recipe to make a salad before but it made it 1000% more delicious. I think I always had a proportions off before. One of my favorites is the farro & kale salad.
This is gorgeous. What I donโt have on hand is easily procuredโฆI want this book! Thank you
The other thing I will say about this book is that since I started cooking from it, I have adjusted the meat-to-veg ratio on the plate without even thinking. When you come at dinner from the question โWhat meat should I have with my greens?โ instead of the other way around, you know youโre going to end up eating well.
Cay: For the chicken, place your bone-in chicken breasts (or even boneless if you donโt have bone-in) on a rimmed cookie sheet (or a baking dish), then pour a 1/4 cup of water into the pan along with it. Add salt and pepper to chicken. Cover with foil and roast at 375ยฐF for 45 minutes.
Oh my gosh! I made this last night for my whole family plus in-laws and it was DELICIOUS!!! I left the whole salad deconstructed โ and it looked so pretty all laid out assembly line style on the kitchen island. I also added shelled edamame and cucumbers. BONUS: I was able to get every single ingredient at my beloved Trader Joes (except the Srichacha)! I usually poach my chicken breasts ( or cheat and buy a rotisserie) but the cookie sheet method was genius and will be my new go-to when I need breast meat for a salad, enchiladas, etc. Thank you for pointing me in the direction of yet another great recipe that will go into my familyโs meal rotation!
Jenny, how can it be that you had all the ingredients in the house already. What were you planning to do with the cabbage and pineapple before this recipe came to mind? Cabbage and cilantro are somethings I never have lying around my kitchen. When it comes to vegetables, herbs and meat, I only buy what Iโm already planning on cooking.
Jen โ We always have pineapple in the house, but usually not for dinner. Itโs by far our daughterโs favorite fruit to have in the morning or for snacks. We buy a container of slices at Trader Joeโs โ sometimes two โ along with mangoes and cantalope in same packaging. As for the cabbage, we donโt have that on hand every week, but pretty close. More often than not itโs red cabbage (so we can make our favorite salad here: https://promoavenue.info/a-dinner-pas-de-deux/) but TJoes doesnโt have red, so sometimes we have to get the bagged ready-for-slaw cabbage. It works on tacos and kids like it with greens cause itโs โcrunchy.โ
Thanks so much for featuring this book! Happily my library had it on the shelf although after a first perusal and umpteen marked recipes later it found itโs way into my Amazon cart. Already love the lemony salmon salad and balsamic chicken. A great way to get more veggies on all our plates!
oh, I usually love recipes offered from this website (and i love the book) but I found this one lacking. It seemed bland, and I couldnโt get the sauce spicy enough. Maybe the addition of some fish sauce would help with the blandness? I donโt know. Also, although even lightly dressed, in short time it was limping. Such a bummer, and I have *tons* of it leftover. Fortunately, my husband enjoyed it more than I did.
โThen proceed to toss for the normal peopleโ. Ha! Love it!!!
Dear Jenny,
Iโve been cooking my way through your recipes since receiving your book for Christmas from my sister Kate. I really love your voice and food philosophy. Oh and my husband gave me the bumper sticker for Valentineโs Day so clearly Iโm a Superfan.
I made this salad for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! Our boys ate it deconstructed, my husband ate it without the Sriracha, and I had extra Sriracha. The baby just looked on longingly.
My kids DEVOURED this meal. Loved, loved, loved it. Thank you!!
I love creative takes on salad โ this looks great! Thanks for sharing!