Hello everyone!
It’s been a while since I posted anything new on here and I’m so sorry for my absence. It would be easy to say that I’ve been busy, and that’s because I have been. In the last year, I took a full-time job, Monday through Friday, at a winery in Lodi doing some Sales and Marketing, while also keeping my customer service job pouring wine on the weekends at one of my other favorite Lodi wineries. I also used this last year to move out of my parents’ house, to help my parents move into a new house, and to fall in love. Suffice it to say, I haven’t had much free time. But now that all the moving parts in my life have slowed, I finally have time to get back to the things I love. Not that anyone cares about the personal parts of a food blog, (a big thanks to those of you who even read this far!) but I must tell you that I have enjoyed getting back to this. This crazy year has taught me that the old adage is true—you must make time for the things you love!
Also, in this last year, I have become a woman possessed. I cannot get enough of Panera Bread’s salads! I know, I know, everything at Panera bread is basically glorified cafeteria food. BUT the soup and the salads are SO GOOD! Like, how are the sandwiches so bland and the salads, OF ALL THINGS, so good? The Citrus Asian Crunch, the titular recipe here, is one of the best salads I’ve ever had. (I too wish I was kidding.) The other best-salad-I’ve-ever-had is also a Panera bread stronghold—the Green Goddess Cobb Salad. I’m working on perfecting that dressing right now, but don’t worry, Ill be re-creating that one too.
Usually, I’m not a fan of Asian salads, I find them so lackluster. But this one had so many goodies it was hard not to love it. Chloe too! (Oh yes, she’s back.) She sniffed around the toppings and took a few pieces of lettuce to-go. For Chloe, that’s a solid 8/10. But I digress, back to the recipe. I’m a sucker for pickled onions and everything edamame. I was immediately draw to this on the Panera menu when I saw that. Plus, the dressing is to die for—it’s my new favorite! I couldn’t find any prepared Tangerine Ginger Soy dressing—and believe me, I looked—so I found the closest thing in the Ginger Sesame dressing from Ocean’s Halo. I picked that up at my local Wal-Mart so I you should be able to find it at your local supermarket too.
Besides the dressing, the best part of this salad is that it comes together so easily. The only real prep work is pickling some onions (I have a quickie recipe for that below) and searing some teriyaki glazed chicken thighs. It also came together easily because I took quite a few shortcuts. Look, I’m not about to shred my own carrots, cabbage, and broccoli stems! Who has the time? I opted for the pre-shredded stuff and if you’re tight on time, you should too! A salad shouldn’t take that much work, people! And if you want to take all the shortcuts you can (which you should), then I also recommend buying some already pickled onions. I know I made mine, but that was before I knew I could just buy them! Why didn’t anyone tell me?
Panera Copycat: Asian Crunch Salad
Servings: 6-8 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Salad Base Ingredients
2 cups, or roughly ½ of a 16oz bag of broccoli slaw (or some shredded carrots, shredded broccoli stems, and shredded cabbage—however you can get it)
3 cups, or roughly 1 bundle of Kale, shredded
3 cups, or roughly 1-2 hearts of romaine, cut into thin strips
½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Salad Toppings Ingredients
1-2 cups frozen edamame, shelled
1 cup crispy wonton strips
1 bottle of your favorite Asian salad dressing (I used Ginger Sesame from Ocean’s Halo)
Quick Pickled Onion Ingredients
1 medium red onion
½ cup water
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
Teriyaki-Glazed Chicken Thighs Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup teriyaki sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. First, prepare your toppings:
a. Pickled Onions: Thinly slice your onion and add them to a large jar, or (because I didn’t have a large jar) a deep Tupperware or bowl. Set that aside. Add cold water, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, honey, and salt to a medium sized bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until the honey and salt have dissolved. Pour the vinegar mixture on top of the onions and let them sit out on the counter for 30 minutes to 1 hour before using them.
b. Teriyaki-Glazed Chicken Thighs: Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet. Next, brush some teriyaki sauce onto the chicken thighs as they cook. Cook the thighs on that side for about 10 minutes. Flip them to the other side and brush more teriyaki sauce on the chicken. Cook them for another 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the thighs reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate and allow them to cool before dicing and adding it to the salad.
c. Edamame: Follow the package directions for re-heating them and allow them to cool to room temperature before adding to the salad.
2. Prepare the base of the salad by chopping the cilantro and cutting or shredding the kale and romaine. Then, add romaine, kale, cilantro, and 2 cups, or roughly ½ the bag of broccoli slaw, to a very large salad bowl. Use tongs to toss the ingredients together evenly.
3. Next, you can start assembling individual bowls by adding as much of the edamame, wonton strips, pickled onions, chicken thighs, and salad dressing as you’d like. Or you can add all the topping ingredients to the prepared salad base with ½ a cup or so of the dressing and toss it all together.
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