A Perfect Feast

Chopped Coconut Chicken Salad with Lime Dressing is one of our favorite chicken dinners. Restaurants that specialize in chopped salads have increased in popularity. We all love chopped salads because they include interesting ingredients that are all chopped up in bite sized pieces. And they are well coated in dressing. I like chopped salads, too, but much prefer making them at home. I like making them at home for several reasons.

First of all, I can prepare this salad for much less money at home. In fact, the only thing I had to buy to make this salad was some coconut milk.

Secondly, call me picky, but it really annoys me when I order salad at a restaurant, and some of the vegetables are less than perfect. My personal salad pet peeve is unripe tomatoes. Panera, for instance, is always giving me salads with barely red tomatoes in it. Avocado quality also seems to suffer in restaurants. I really don’t want bruised or brown avocado pieces in my salad. At home, I can really take the time to ripen my tomatoes and avocados on my counter, and then make salad with them when they are perfectly ripe. Another one of my restaurant salad complaints is that they have too much lettuce and not enough of other vegetables. At home, I can clean our the refrigerator and put all kinds of vegetables in my salad.

Lastly, restaurant salads usually have too much dressing on them. At home, I can put on enough dressing to taste some in every bite, but not overwhelm the salad. Plus, I don’t want all the extra calories in all that extra dressing restaurants use; I need to save those calories for dessert!

How I Made my Chopped Coconut Chicken Salad with Lime Dressing

To make my Chopped Coconut Chicken Salad with Lime Dressing at home, I first make my chicken marinade, which is essentially most of the ingredients in a Thai curry, plus coconut milk. I’m not usually a coconut or a curry fan, but I love this chicken. Both the coconut and the curry are very subtle. They don’t give the chicken a strong taste, just a nice, gentle, spiced sweetness. After the chicken is done marinating, I grill the chicken on medium heat, until it’s cooked through. If it gets cooked on the outside, but is still undercooked inside, just put it in a 350 degree oven until the inside finishes cooking. When the chicken is all cooked, I put it into the refrigerator to chill, and then right before serving I chop it into little half inch pieces. After that, I just toss the chicken with the salad and dressing and it’s all ready to serve.

Thai Chopped Coconut Chicken Salad with Lime Dressing

Tender coconut marinated chicken tossed with colorful salad vegetables and topped with lime dressing.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

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For the Coconut Chicken:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• ½ tsp. cumin powder
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ¼ tsp. yellow mustard powder
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. fennel seed

For the Lime Dressing:

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tsp. chopped mint
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper

For the Chopped Salad:

• 1 head Boston Lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 1 cup chopped red and orange peppers
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1 chopped avocado
• 1 cup sliced cucumber
• 1 cup chopped unsalted peanuts

Instructions

 

For the Coconut Chicken:

• In a bowl mix everything but the chicken together. This will be your marinade for the chicken.
• Cut the chicken breasts in half, horizontally, and then pound them to an even thickness of about a half inch thick. Place them in the marinade, while your grill pan heats up.
• Grill the breasts on a grill pan, on medium heat, until cooked through. Put them back in the refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the salad.
• Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces before tossing with the rest of the salad ingredients.

For the Lime Dressing:

• Shake all the ingredients until well combined, in a small jar.

To assemble the Chopped Salad:

• Toss all the vegetables, chicken, and peanuts in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over everything and toss until everything is well coated with the dressing.

Keyword Chicken

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With a third cup of garlic cloves, this Broccoli and Bowtie Pasta is a garlic lover’s dream. I expected complaints from some of the garlic haters in my house, but to my surprise everyone really loved it. Cooking the garlic with lots of butter seems to sweeten it, and mixing it with the tender broccoli, lemon, pine nuts, and Parmesan makes the whole dish hard to stop eating.

One of the things I love about this dish is that, while meatless, it is still a filling and complete meal. I served this dish the other night with some fried calamari and a salad, but the Death by Garlic Broccoli and Bowtie Pasta was truly the star.

The key to success with this recipe is cutting the broccoli in small enough pieces so that it cooks evenly. I’ve made other versions of this dish where large stalks of broccoli are used, and they always end up overcooked or not fully incorporated with the sauce. So, please peel the stalks and then dice them in little pieces, and then chop the florets in half inch pieces so everything cooks evenly.

Lemony Asparagus and Farfalle with Burrata

Farfalle pasta tossed with a light lemon sauce, pine nuts, asparagus, and Parmesan cheese. Each portion is topped with a creamy ball of burrata cheese.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Calories 400 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• ½ pound bowtie pasta
• 1¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 bunch asparagus spears, trimmed, and cut into half inch pieces
• ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. pine nuts
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 4 basil leaves
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 4 balls burrata cheese

Instructions

 

• In a large pot of well salted boiling water, cook the bowtie pasta until al dente, following the package directions. Drain the pasta and toss with 2 tablespoons of the butter and the Parmesan cheese.
• In a large skillet heat the rest of the butter and the olive oil over medium heat. Add the asparagus, garlic, a ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt, red pepper flakes and the pine nuts. Cook on medium heat until the asparagus is just tender.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice and basil and pasta mixture. Top each portion with burrata cheese.

Nutrition

Calories: 400kcal

Keyword meatless

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Crispy on the outside, and creamy on the inside, these fried Parmesan Arancini with Garlic and Parsley are a family favorite. My mother-in-law makes them for every holiday and special family dinner, usually frying dozens of them, and serving them as a “light” appetizer before a huge meal.

At my husband’s request, I asked her for her famous rice ball recipe, and now they are a favorite treat at our house, too. I, however, do not consider them an appetizer, but more of a meatless main course, that goes great with a big salad.

Although these arancini use risotto rice, you do not have to constantly stir it, like you must always stir risotto. Dipping the rice balls into the flour and water batter helps the rice balls hold together, but also keeps the rice from getting too crispy. It can be a bit messy, but using wet hands helps a little to keep the rice from sticking to your fingers.

The frying of the arancini is also quite simple, as long as you use the deep frying thermometer, and make sure you only fry when the oil is 350 degrees. These are great heated up the next day, especially in the usually useless, in my opinion, air fryer.

Parmesan Arancini with Garlic and Parsley

Crispy risotto balls filled with Parmesan cheese, garlic, and parsley

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Resting Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6

Equipment

• deep frying thermometer

Ingredients

  

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• 1½ cups arborio rice
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1½ cups Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp. minced parsley
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• 4 cups vegetable oil

Instructions

 

• In a Dutch oven, bring 3 cups of water, the salt, and the butter to a boil. Add the rice and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently, until all the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
• Stir the eggs, cheese, parsley, and garlic into the rice. Spread the rice onto a large baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• In a large bowl mix together the flour with a cup of water, and whisk it until the lumps are gone. Fill a second bowl with the breadcrumbs.
• Form the rice into balls about the size of a clementine. Pick up one ball at a time and rub it all over with some of the flour and water mixture, and then roll it in the breadcrumbs until it is completely coated.
• In a Dutch oven, or large pot, heat one inch of oil to 350°. Fry 4 balls at a time, turning them once in the oil, until they are golden brown. It takes about 5 minutes, and then you can drain them on a wire rack. Make sure the oil heats up to 350° before you fry each batch.
• Serve plain or with marinara sauce.

Keyword arancini

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