Recipe: Kacey's Thai Larb Chicken Salad

I love, love Thai food!! Some friends introduced us to it a few years ago and I'm hooked! There is a great hole in the wall place to get good Thai here in Payson, and I frequent it. But one of my favorite things to do is experiment with food and try to create dishes that I get at restaurants or potlucks. So I decided to try to make one of my favorite restaurant Thai dishes, they call it Larb. I'm sure you could Google larb chicken salad recipe and find one, but where's the fun in that?! This dish is light, flavorful, quick, easy, healthy and you control the heat. I like heat, but sometimes my idea of hot is not the same as the person making it in a restaurant and my lips about burn off! The flavors sing in your mouth and the iceberg lettuce and water chestnuts give it a satisfying crunch. So here's my version of Thai Larb Chicken Salad. Hope you love it!!

Ingredients:

1 package of ground chicken or I have made it by chopping one chicken breast very fine before cooking
1/2 Cup cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1/2 Cup water chestnuts, chopped small
1/2 Cup Peppers, chopped (I did a variety of red and green bell, anaheim, and banana, since that's what I had growing in my garden.)
1 Teaspoon shallots, chopped
2 Cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
3 Green onions, chopped
Juice of one lemon
Juice of one lime
1/4 Cup cilantro, chopped fine
5 Mint leaves, chopped fine
1/2 Teaspoon Chili oil, (available in the Asian section of my groc. store)
1/2 Teaspoon Fish sauce, (also available in the Asian section)
1 Tablespoon Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
And a couple of dashes of Tabasco and it's the bees knees!! (This is where you control the heat, put some in and taste, then add more if desired.)
Iceberg lettuce, chopped fine, washed and chilled in fridge until ready to serve.
Salt/Pepper

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet with 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, add shallots, garlic and chicken, cook over high heat while stirring occasionally until done (about 5-7 min.), seasoning with salt/pepper while cooking, then add peppers, water chestnuts, green onions, juices of lime and lemon, chili oil, fish sauce, soy sauce and Tabasco, and stir until incorporated, take off heat and add the cilantro, mint, cherry tomatoes and serve over a chilled bed of iceberg lettuce. The chicken/vegetable mixture is warm and the lettuce is chilled, it's a nice contrast. You might think this sounds dry, and needs more dressing, but trust me there is a lot of flavor and the juices make a nice dressing. Enjoy!!