Thai-riffic Noodle Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing

This colorful main course salad is elegant enough to serve for company but my husband and I love it so much, we sometimes have it for dinner several times in the same week! Once you try it you’ll know why we’re a little obsessed with this Asian style noodle salad. It’s packed with fabulous flavors, chock full of nutritious skinny ingredients and extremely filling. One extremely large, Thai-riffic salad has 425 calories, 15 grams of fat and 12 Weight Watchers Freestyle SmartPoints. The fat content is mostly coming from the peanut butter, which is a heart healthy fat.  

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes

Ingredients for Peanut Dressing:

½ cup fresh lime juice, see shopping tips

¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter (unsalted, natural preferred)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ginger, from a jar or fresh, see shopping tips

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Ingredients For Salad:

1 (9 oz) package refrigerated Nasoya Chinese noodles, see shopping tips

6 cups romaine lettuce

4 cups cabbage, shredded

2 cups bean sprouts

2 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped or shredded

1 cup red bell pepper, cut into strips

½ cup scallions, chopped

Instructions

1. To make the Peanut Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, ginger, garlic and cayenne pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Cook Nasoya Chinese noodles according to package directions.

3. On each plate, divide and layer the lettuce, cabbage, sprouts, chicken and red bell pepper. Divide the warm noodles on top of the salads. Drizzle the cold dressing on top of each salad.

4. Sprinkle each salad with some scallions.

Makes 4 main course salads

Food Fact
Nasoya Chinese noodles are fresh, all natural and cook fast.  They work great in many Asian style recipes such as Lo Mein and noodle soups.

Healthy Benefits
Peanut butter has unsaturated fat which can help to reduce the risk of heart disease. It’s a rich source of protein, fiber, folate and niacin.

A cup of cabbage has only 33 calories yet is packed with vitamins and an excellent source of fiber. This Thai salad contains 7 grams of fiber for each serving.

Bean sprouts are a good source of protein. They’re full of antioxidants, chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals.

Shopping Tips
You’ll normally find Nasoya Chinese noodles in the refrigerated produce section where tofu is sold, in most supermarkets and natural markets.

If you don’t want to use fresh lime juice you can also used bottled. My favorite is Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice. It’s sold in many supermarkets.

Ginger (in a jar) is available in the produce section where garlic (in a jar) is sold.

Substitution Tip
To make this salad vegetarian, substitute chicken for cooked and diced tofu or chopped peanuts.

Weight Watchers Freestyle SmartPoints 12
Weight Watchers SmartPoints 12
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 13