Chicken Satay Chopped Salad

With Thai Butternut Soup simmering on the stove top, and the smell of curry, lime, and thai basil filling our house, we wanted to find a salad to compliment the soup.  After looking through many recipes online, but not finding anything quite right, we decided to concoct our own, using elements of recipes we'd seen.  Below, is what we came up with, a salad with a skewer of chicken satay, and a sesame lime dressing.  This could definitely be a meal on it's own, but, combined with the butternut soup, made a fantastic soup and salad dinner combo.

Ingredients

Chicken Satay
1/2 can of coconut milk
zest from 1 lime
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sweet thai chili sauce
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into one inch pieces
wooden skewers 

Salad
2 cups organic baby mixed field greens
1 cup chopped cabbage (purple is great for color)
1/2 small red onion finely sliced
2 carrots chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cucumbers, chopped
3-4 tablespoons of fresh chopped thai herbs - we used thai basil and cilantro
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped/crushed

Dressing
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated
1/2 clove of garlic, minced
Sriracha or red paper flakes to taste (optional)

Directions:
Make marinade for the chicken satay (coconut milk, lime zest, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sweet thai chili).  Mix well.  Add chicken pieces and marinate for at least 30 minutes, 1-2 hours if possible.  Place marinated chicken pieces on wooden skewers and grill until cooked through.  Be sure to oil your grill grates and watch chicken carefully, as it has a tendency to stick.

Combine ingredients for the dressing in a small food processor.

Mix the cabbage and field greens together to form the base of the salad.  For beautiful presentation,  arrange the colorful chopped vegetables in sections around the salad.  Add peanuts and fresh herbs.  Put the skewers of chicken satay on top.

Serve with dressing, extra peanuts, lime wedges and cilantro.  Or like us, serve a small salad with the bowl of thai butternut soup!