i’ve been on a major brussels sprout salad kick lately. first i tried this one, which led me to create this one, and now… this one. as soon as i tried the first salad and realized how amazing thinly sliced raw brussels sprouts are (no, really, i’m serious), i knew i wanted to try a version with shredded chicken, peanuts, cilantro, other good stuff, and some sort of asian-inspired sauce.
aaaand, i was right. this salad turned out to be a crunchy, refreshing, super flavorful pile of amazingness. even my husband, who generally casts a wary eye at all things “vegetable”, proclaimed this the best salad of its kind. in fact, he even ate it twice. let me assure you that “leftover salad” is not usually in his vocabulary. more for me i always say! luckily, this made a pretty generously sized pile of awesome so i was willing to share.
speaking of awesome, the double dressings are both super delicious individually and even better than the sum of their parts when combined. that said, if you’re pressed for time or energy, peanut sauce. peanut sauce is the answer. it’s peanuty, and gingery, and has juuust the right amount of spicy goodness.
i’ve already eaten my way through 7+ servings of this salad over the past few days and now that it’s gone, i’m counting down the days until i can make it again without seeming like a person who is completely obsessed with thinly sliced raw brussels sprouts. too late?
the good news for you is that you probably haven’t just made a brussels sprout salad, which means that you get to make this one right away! i’ll try not to be too jealous as you sit there with a beautifully crunchy and refreshing salad that’s perfect for dinner (or lunch… or breakfast…) on hot summer days.
asian-inspired brussels sprouts salad
Save to BigOven 
Ingredients
peanut sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lime juice (~1.5 limes)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2″ of ginger, peeled and sliced into a few pieces
- 2 tablespoons unsalted natural peanut butter, smooth is preferable but not essential
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
savory sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons lime juice (~2 limes)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed or minced
- 1 serrano chili, seeds and rib removed, then quartered lengthwise and cut into thin strips
salad
- 1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
- 1.5 lbs (704 g.) brussels sprouts
- 8 radishes
- 8 oz. (228 g.) shredded carrots, patted dry
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 3 oz. (1/2 of a small/87 g.) red onion, cut into small dice
garnish
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 3/8 oz. (1/2 cup/70 g.) peanuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
peanut sauce
- put all the ingredients in the blender and hit go until everything is smooth. the ginger takes a little bit of coaxing to break down so don’t stop too soon! i blended for about 30 seconds and had some lumps of ginger, which i thoroughly enjoyed, but should you not wish to have the same, keep blending. set aside.
savory sauce
- put all of the ingredients in a jar with a lid and give it a shake. make sure all of the sugar gets dissolved. set aside.
salad
- trim the ends off the radishes then put them through the food processor, fitted with the slicing blade. next, trim the ends off the brussels sprouts and do the same. after the brussels sprouts are sliced, wash and dry them (that’s why it’s easier to slice the radishes first, since you can easily wash them and then the food processor bowl isn’t full of brussels sprouts grit yet).
- combine all of the salad ingredients in a (very) large bowl and toss to combine.
- if you’re not going to serve all of the salad immediately, remove and refrigerate the portion that you don’t want to eat now. toss the salad you do want to eat with about 1 tablespoon of the savory dressing per serving. divide among plates. drizzle 1 tablespoon of peanut sauce over each individual serving and garnish with cilantro and peanuts. serve chilled.
Notes
this salad is best when eaten within 2 – 3 days of making it, assuming you start with fresh chicken.
if you’re watching your sodium intake, making this with chicken that you cook yourself, rather than rotisserie chicken, would go a long way towards reducing the overall sodium in this recipe.
the dressings were adapted from smitten kitchen’s cold rice noodles with peanut lime chicken, which were adapted from david tanis, via the new york times
