rainbow chicken chop

Name: rainbow chicken chop
Prep time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: American, Asian
Ingredients: 1 small head of green cabbage, finely chopped; 2 bell peppers (ideally 1 orange and 1 red), finely chopped; 2 cooked chicken breasts (from a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or see notes for how to cook at home), finely chopped; 1 small crown of broccoli, finely chopped (optional — I know many don’t love raw broccoli); 1 English cucumber, finely chopped; 1 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped; 1 cup fresh mint, finely chopped; 1 cup shredded carrots (buy a bag of shredded carrots or use a box grater to grate 1 large carrot); Big pinch(es) of kosher salt; 1 cup cashews (buy Thai- or Asian-spiced cashews, if you can find them! or just regular roasted cashews), crunched up before adding; 1 package ramen noodles, crunched up before adding (and seasoning packet discarded); 1/2 cup sesame oil (ideally regular, but toasted also works — it will just have a stronger sesame flavor); 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar; 1/4 cup honey; 1 heaping tablespoon chili crisp (if you already have it!! if not, just add a big pinch/few grinds of black pepper); 2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated or minced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; Optional 1 small red onion, minced

6 steps

Prep:45min

Jillian (my righthand woman who helps me run things around here and who is also a dear friend) hosted Salad Club this past Wednesday and served what we unanimously agreed was the Best Meal in Salad Club History. It was FREEZING (for Carmel Valley — aka probably 55 degrees lol) so she kicked lunch off by warming us up with Samusa Soup. It was incredible — hearty and warm, with flavors that I’ve never before had in a soup. Note: She used lime juice in place of the tamarind water and it was excellent. Then it was salad time. Oh. My. Gosh. This salad. First of all, STUNNING. Gorgeous! Secondly, do you know how amazing it is to pack this much nutrient diversity into one meal?! Eating the rainbow is not just beautiful, it’s so, so good for your gut and your brain and your entire body. Jillian topped our salads off with an absolutely perfect honey-ginger salmon for a 10/10 meal top to bottom. I knew immediately that I had to share the salad with you, but, in order to keep it safely within the “I don’t feel like cooking” zone, I swapped the salmon out for rotisserie chicken meat. The result? Rainbow Chicken Chop with Ginger Chili Crisp Dressing! This is an *I would-pay-$25-for-that-at-a-restaurant* meal and I can’t wait for you to make it.

Updated at: Thu, 06 Mar 2025 09:49:22 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Great

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories900.8 kcal (45%)

Total Fat55.7 g (80%)

Carbs70.5 g (27%)

Sugars30.8 g (34%)

Protein37.1 g (74%)

Sodium1178 mg (59%)

Fiber10.6 g (38%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

For the salad:

1 headgreen cabbage

small, finely chopped

2bell peppers

ideally 1 orange and 1 red, finely chopped

2chicken breasts

cooked, from a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or see notes for how to cook at home, finely chopped

1crown of broccoli

small, finely chopped, optional — I know many don’t love raw broccoli

1english cucumber

finely chopped

1 cupfresh cilantro

finely chopped

1 cupfresh mint

finely chopped

1 cupcarrots

shredded, buy a bag of shredded carrots or use a box grater to grate 1 large carrot

kosher salt

1 cupcashews

buy thai- or asian-spiced cashews, if you can find them or just regular roasted cashews, crunched up before adding

1 packageramen noodles

crunched up before adding, and seasoning packet discarded

For the Ginger Chili Crisp Dressing:

½ cupsesame oil

ideally regular, but toasted also works — it will just have a stronger sesame flavor

½ cuprice wine vinegar

¼ cuphoney

1 heaping tablespoonchili crisp

if you already have it ! if not, just add a big pinch/few grinds of black pepper

2 inchfresh ginger

piece, grated or minced

2garlic cloves

minced

2 teaspoonskosher salt

1red onion

optional, small, minced

Instructions

Step 1

Finely chop 1 small head green cabbage, 2 bell peppers, 2 cooked chicken breasts, 1 small crown of broccoli, 1 English cucumber, 1 cup of fresh cilantro, and 1 cup of fresh mint. If you didn’t buy shredded carrots, grate or finely chop 1 carrot.

Step 2

Add everything to your largest mixing/serving bowl (if you bought pre-shredded carrots, add 1 cup shredded carrots to the bowl now too). Add a huge (!!) four-finger pinch of kosher salt, and toss to season all of the ingredients.

Step 3

Add all dressing ingredients (1/2 cup sesame oil, 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar, 1/4 cup honey, 1 heaping tablespoon chili crisp OR a big pinch/few grinds of black pepper, a minced/grated 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 2 teaspoons kosher salt) to a jar, seal it tightly, and shake until well combined — so 30 seconds or so of hardcore shaking! If you don’t have a large jar, add the ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together. If you like red onion, mince 1 red onion and add it to the jar (it’s not necessary for the dressing, this is just a great way to quick-pickle onion and take that harsh bite out!).

Step 4

Pour 3/4ths of the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Add additional dressing as needed (I use it all!). Taste and season with additional kosher salt as needed (there are a LOT of raw vegetables in there — I needed to add several big pinches of salt to bring out all of their best flavors! Keep tasting between additional pinches until it’s perfect!)

Step 5

Right before serving, crunch up 1 cup of cashews and 1 package of ramen noodles (discard the ramen seasoning packet or save it for another use). Add them to the salad and dig in!

Step 6

*If you plan to have leftovers and eat this salad throughout the week, add the crunched up ramen and cashews to a storage container and sprinkle them on your bowl before serving each time.*

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