Late summer gives us a bounty of fresh vegetables that work well with quick-grill meals, salads – or combing both ideas. This umami-packed Grilled Vietnamese Chicken Salad side dish is one you’ll come back again and again, because it’s simple, healthy, and delish (our motto at Serious Foodie). This grilled combo would be great served over rice noodles (shown above), white rice, or over a bed of lettuce for a very healthy low carb meal.
There are a few elements to this dish that are outstanding, and that you can use over and over. First, don’t be afraid to grill any and (almost) every vegetable. Here we used green beans, tomatoes, and multi-colored carrots. Each veggie turned into a more intense, sweeter version of itself. Add a little char from the grill gives this veggie-centric dish another serious boost of flavor. And, as an added bonus, we show you how to make garlic-roasted peanuts – a Filipino street food taught to us by a good friend chef Meagan.
Grilled Vietnamese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
Dressing/Marinade
- 1 jar Serious Foodie Vietnamese Sweet Chili Hot Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Serious Foodie Indonesian Sambal Or use any Asian chili/garlic sauce
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice Juice from 1/2 fresh lime, or more to taste
- 1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil safflower, sunflower, or avocado oil are the best for this.
Salad
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs You can substitute with 1 pound of shrimp
- 1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1-2 medium carrots peeled, and julienned or sliced on the bias
- 12 ounces fresh green beans trimmed
- 12-16 small sliced cherry tomatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 8 ounces cooked rice or rice noodles Optional. You can also use salad greens for a healthier option.
- 2 green scallions sliced on the bias. Optional
- 1/4 cup garlic peanuts rough chopped (recipe below)
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro cleaned and chopped. Optional
- 1/2 cup fresh mint cleaned and chopped. Optional
- 1/4 cup Thai basil cleaned and chopped. Optional
- 1 cup raw peanuts
- 2 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil
- 2 medium garlic cloves thinly sliced
Instructions
Dressing/Marinade
- Combine 1 jar Serious Foodie Vietnamese Sweet Chili Hot Sauce, 1/4 tablespoon Serious Foodie Indonesian Sambal (less or more, depending on how spicy you want the dressing), and the fresh lime juice. Whisk in the vegetable oil. The sauces have fish sauce as an ingredient, so it might be salty enough. Feel free to salt and pepper the dressing to taste.
Salad Preparation
- Use about 1/2 of the dressing to marinate the chicken. Pour the dressing over the chicken in a bowl, cover, and keep in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Set the grill to medium high heat. Place all the veggies in a bowl. Toss with the combination of 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste, then grill until slightly charred. Keep the oil for the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade, and pat dry. Add a the chicken to the oil mixture that you used for the veggies. Grill the chicken until done. Let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes, then slice.
- Toss the green beans, tomatoes, carrots, scallion, cilantro, mint, and Thai basil together in a large bowl. Pour about one half of the reserved dressing over the veggies.
- Place the rice, rice noodles, or salad greens in a bowl, then top with the chicken and veggies. Drizzle with more dressing, and optional peanuts.
Garlic roasted peanuts
- Add oil to a saute pan, then set on medium low heat. Sauté garlic in oil on medium-low heat. Add the peanuts.
- Stir for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove peanuts and garlic with a slotted spoon to minimize the oil, then toss with the salt and mix well. Cool, then serve. Great when chopped for salads.
