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Thai Chicken Salad

This delicious chicken salad features roasted sweet potatoes, pickled onions, toasted coconut, and herb marinated chicken. It's a Modern Market That Coconut Salad copycat recipe made AIP compliant!
MAKE AHEAD: You can make all of the components of this salad up to 5 days ahead of time. Keep the pickled onions in the vinegar solution to get more flavor, keep the coconut separate so it doesn't get soggy, and if you want to reheat the chicken before serving, keep it separate as well.
Make coconut-free: The only thing you need to do to make this coconut-free is to omit the coconut flakes.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Marinating Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

  • 1.5 lb boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
  • 3 tbsp Olive Oil or Avocado Oil
  • 2 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp sliced fresh Ginger or 1 tsp dried Ginger
  • 2 tbsp Cilantro minced
  • 1 tsp dried Basil or 1 tbsp fresh minced Basil
  • 1/4 tsp Sea Salt

For the Pickled Onions:

  • 1 medium Red Onion
  • 3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Coconut or Maple Sugar Maple Syrup or Honey is also ok
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

For the Grated Sweet Potatoes:

  • 1 medium Sweet Potato
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil or Avocado Oil
  • 1/4 tsp Sea Salt

For the Mango Dressing:

  • 1 cup Mango chunks fresh or thawed from frozen
  • 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Olive Oil or Avocado Oil may need up to an additional 1/4 cup - see directios
  • 1 tbsp Cilantro chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh Ginger or 1 tsp dried Ginger
  • 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

For the rest of the salad:

  • 1 cup Coconut Chips or unsweetened, shredded Coconut omit for coconut-free
  • 1 Cucumber thinly sliced into half moons
  • 8 cups Spring Lettuce Mix
  • 1 cup Cilantro chopped

Instructions

Between 30 minutes and 12 hours ahead of time:

  • In a medium bowl or gallon-sized ziploc bag, add all of the ingredients for the chicken, stir or massage everything to mix and coat the chicken. Cover the bowl or seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 12 hours.

When making the salad:

  • Preheat the oven to 450 F. While waiting for the oven to heat, heat 2 cups of water to boiling while you slice the red onion into thin slices. Place the onion in a colander in the sink and slowly pour the boiling water over the onion slices to soften and slightly cook them. Add the vinegar, sea salt, and sugar to a small bowl or glass container and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Then add the onion slices to the vinegar and stir to submerge them. Set aside.
  • Remove the chicken from the marinade and put into a baking dish or on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Put into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes.
  • Peel and shred the sweet potato using a box grater or food processor with the grating blade. Place the shredded sweet potato on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drizzle the oil and sea salt on top and then using your hands or a spoon, mix. Spread the sweet potato evenly on the sheet and put into the oven with the chicken for 10 minutes.
  • While the sweet potato and chicken are cooking, toast the coconut chips by placing them in a dry pan over medium heat. Start stirring them occasionally after about 3 minutes and continue to cook until they are lightly toasted and the ends have turned brown.
  • While everything is cooking, put all of the ingredients for the Mango Dressing into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You may want to add up to an additional 1/4 cup of oil to make it runnier, totally up to your preference on this. Without the extra 1/4 cup of oil it's a thick sauce.
  • Slice the cucumber and chop the cilantro and set aside.
  • Check the chicken after 15 minutes - the temperature should be 165 F in the thickest part if taken with an instant-read thermometer. If it isn't, continue to cook until it is. Once it's done, remove it from the oven and cover with aluminum foil or a kitchen towel for 5 minutes to rest.
  • Start to assemble the salads - divide the spring mix evenly between the plates. Add toasted coconut chips, shredded sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and cilantro to each plate. Using a fork, remove the pickled onions from the vinegar and place on each plate. Then once the chicken is done resting, slice and divide between the plates. Either dollop some of the sauce on each plate or serve on the side. Enjoy!