Awesome Mint & Spinach Thai Style Salad with Shredded Coconut Curry Chicken

In this recipe I have combined a thai starter with a thai main course and taken out the starchy carbs (rice). Being a guy who despises salads and rabbit food, I find this one managable. I first tried a thai salad in Phuket when training for a cage fight and trying to keep my body fat down to a minimum. I have changed a few things such as lettuce, it doesn't contain many nutients and is a waste of my chewing ability. For this reason I have swapped it for spinach. It is very easy to make, just wack everything in a food processor except the spinach.

For the salad you will need:

2 large handfuls of spinach (enough for 2 people)

1-2 carrots

1 small handful of mint, add more or less depending how much you like mint

1 tablespoon of honey (yeah, I have a sweet tooth)

1 inch piece of galangal (some people say you can swap it for ginger but the flavours are completely different)

1 chilli (optional)

1 medium tomato (optional)

Juice of 1 lemon or lime

1 - 2 cloves of garlic

1 small onion

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar

1 tablespoon thai fish sauce (nam pla)

1 small bunch of fresh corriander

Feel free to add any other high nutrient vegetables that you like.

Directions for the salad:

Put all the salad ingredients in a food processor apart from the spinach and process until the onion, garlic and galangal have been fully blended into everything else.

Add the spinach and very lightly process until the spinach has mixed with everything but hasn't shredded completely. Alternatively you can simply put the mixture in a bowl and mix in the spinach leaves by hand.

For the shredded chicken you will need:

1-2 chicken breasts (diced)

1/2 can of light coconut milk (200ml)

1 tsp fish sauce or a few drops

1 tsp of red thai curry paste (quantities of this may vary depending on the brand, I used MAE PLOY)

1 small bunch of mint (optional)

Directions for the curry sauce:

Fry the curry paste in a tablespoon or two of light coconut milk and mix it

Add the diced chicken breast and fry to allow the chicken to absorb the flavours

When chicken is sealed, add the rest of the coconut milk and bring to the boil

Leave to simmer on a low heat until the chicken is cooked (10-15 mins) - always test it in the middle

When the chicken is cooked, shred it in the food processor with the optional mint and then add to the top of the salad after shredding. You can also just add it as it is without shredding. You can also eat the chicken and salad separate it's UP TO YOU.

#thaimintsalad