Chicken "salad"

I have a sister who is four years younger than me, but personality wise she is about ten to fifteen years older. Sometimes I feel that she would have been better suited as my older sister, rather than my younger. For instance, my idea of budgeting is taking my pay cheque for the week, making sure I cover the bills for that week, and spending the rest. My sister actually plans out the months ahead, what she will take in, and what she has to put out, and then what goes into savings. She has offered to make a budget for me, but I think we both know how it would end.

I mentioned to her yesterday about how I couldn't decide what to make for dinner. She had just read yesterday's blog entry, and was apparently deeply concerned about my arteries and she said "Maybe you should make something for your heart, like a chicken salad"

My very mature response was "Bleh"

Salad is an appetizer in my books. No one will ever be able to convince me that a plate made up mostly of lettuce is a main course. (And yes I know that salad isn't necessarily made with lettuce). I don't care how much meat is in the salad, it is still an appetizer.

Knowing she had a point about my heart, I knew I should make something loaded with vegetables. I also bought a case of beautiful chicken breasts last week so I figured she also had a point regarding the use of chicken.

Everyday Food has a recipe for Thai Chicken and Noodle Salad. I'm not really sure how this dish is labelled a salad, other than it has a lot of raw veggies in it.

The following is what I did different from the recipe:

1) I added a red bell pepper, cut into thin strips. (I have also been calling bell peppers capsicums lately. Capsicum is their real name, and it is annoying someone I work with when I call them that, so naturally I do it more)

2) I used 2 chicken breasts cut up into chunks instead of the amount they called for

3) Instead of chopped peanuts, I added toasted cashews

4) I didn't cut the cucumber into half moons, I peeled it, and then used the vegetable peeler to cut long thin strips of cucumber

5) The garnishes I used were green onions and cashews. I meant to use bean sprouts, and I even bought them, but as I write this I remembered I left the bean sprouts in their package in my crisper.

6) For the dressing I didn't have the anchovy that was optional, but I put in a few dashes of fish sauce since fish sauce's main ingredient is anchovy.

7) I used egg noodles instead of Chinese rice noodles. I have used Chinese rice noodles before, and I prefer them, but the grocery store was out yesterday

I have made this recipe countless times before, and each time I really love it. The chicken and noodles are hot, and since the veggies are raw they are crisp and taste really good. If you are making some to eat for dinner and then take some for lunch the next day, you will want to package the chicken and noodles separately from the veggies. When I make this I take a bowl and mix in what I am eating for supper, but I do not mix all of it together so the veggies (mainly the cucumber) get soggy and gross.

Delicious!