Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Crispy Shallots

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Servings - 6 (about 8-9 cups)

¼ cup lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce*
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tsp sugar or maple syrup
2 cloves garlic, grated or pressed
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, dark green separated from light green/white parts
3-4 cups shredded chicken (from about 1.5 lbs)**
3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
2 cups grated carrot
1-2 cups loosely packed fresh mint or basil, left whole or torn into large pieces***
1 cup chopped cilantro (from about ½ bunch)***
1 jalapeno (or other spicy chili), thinly sliced
Chopped toasted peanuts, almonds, or cashews, for topping (or use topping below)

¼ cup olive oil
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
½ cup chopped roasted peanuts
¼ tsp kosher salt
*Fish sauce is a key ingredient! But if you don’t like fish sauce, replace it with more soy sauce and just season the salad with more salt, if needed.
**One rotisserie chicken should give you enough meat or make my IP Shredded Chicken. You want the shreds to be fairly large rather than super thin.
***Keep all of the herbs in large pieces rather than chopping them small.
Bulk it up! ~ Serve the salad over a bed of jasmine rice or rice noodles. Simply season the noodles or rice with a squeeze of lime and sprinkle of salt.

Thinly slice 1 bunch scallions, dark green separated from light green/white parts
Cook and shred ~ 1.5 lbs chicken (3-4 cups, or use rotisserie)
Thinly slice 3 cups cabbage
Grate 2 cups carrot
Prep 1-2 cups loosely packed fresh mint or basil
Chop 1 cup cilantro
Thinly slice 1-2 jalapenos
Make the salad
Thinly slice 2 shallots
Chop ½ cup peanuts
Make the shallot peanut topping

In a large bowl, whisk together the lime, fish sauce, soy sauce, sweetener, and garlic. Stir in the white/light green parts of the scallions and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Add the chicken, cabbage, carrot, mint or basil, cilantro, jalapeno, and the remaining scallions and toss to coat.
To make the topping (if using), in a medium to large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and shallots. Once the shallots begin to sizzle, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, undisturbed, for 3-4 minutes or until you notice some of them taking on a light golden brown color. If they are burning too quickly, reduce the heat to low. Let them continue to sizzle, stirring and swirling the pan every 30 seconds so they cook evenly. Once they look almost done (a darker golden brown), stir in the peanuts and cook for another minute, stirring often. Turn off the heat.
Tilt the skillet and use a slotted spoon or spatula to transfer the shallots/peanuts to a paper towel lined plate or bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Pour the oil into a small heat-safe jar or bowl.
Serve the salad topped with the shallot/peanut topping (if using, or top with toasted nuts). Drizzle the reserved shallot oil over top (or just regular olive oil).

Substitutions:

To make vegetarian/vegan, replace the 3-4 cups of chicken with 3-4 cups of roasted cubed or torn tofu. Replace fish sauce with soy sauce (see note).
You can really use 5 cups worth of any combination of raw crunchy thinly sliced or grated veggies - radish, fennel, snap peas, etc…
Leave out the jalapeno to remove the spice.

Give it a toss and eat straight out of the fridge. Top with nuts and shallots, more herbs if you have any, and a squeeze of lime.
Add a fried egg on top.
Turn it into a rice noodle salad! Add cooked rice noodles to your bowl and toss it with the salad. Give it an extra squeeze of lime and sprinkle of salt.