One of the first cookbooks that sparked a love of cooking in me was Ina Garten’s ‘Barefoot Contessa Parties.’ I had just begun my journey into the culinary arts  when Annie came home from college for Christmas in 2005. Kayla, her cousin who was 16 at the time joined us. 

Excited to share my newfound interest, I suggested we try our hand at cooking and invited them to put sticky Post-It Notes on recipes they wanted to make.  Between our typical activities of binge-watching movies, shopping, and wrapping gifts, we managed to conquer a few of the recipes. We were able to share them with Margaret, their grandmother.  She loved the peanut sauce in this recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad and always said mmmmmmm when she ate it. 

After 20 years, a blue Post-it note still marks a food-stained, warped page (from water damage) that permanently opens to the recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad. This Ina Garten recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad serves up big taste with an abundance of fresh vegetables. I’m a sucker for satay sauce, and the flavors in this dressing hit it on the head. Don’t let the long list of ingredients put you off trying this recipe. You are likely to have the majority of ingredients in your pantry, and the salad is easy to assemble.

Ina Garten – Serves 12

Ingredients for salad

• 4 Split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
• ½ lb Asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
• 1 Red bell pepper, cored and seeded
• 2 Scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
• 1 T White sesame seeds, toasted
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for dressing

• ½ C Vegetable oil
• ¼ C Good apple cider vinegar
• 3 T Soy sauce
• 1½ t Dark sesame oil
• ½ T Honey
• 1 Clove garlic, minced
• ½ t Peeled, grated fresh ginger
• ½ T Sesame seeds, toasted
• ¼ C Smooth peanut butter
• 2 t Kosher salt
• ½ t Ground black pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken into large bite-sized pieces.
• Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers into strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.
• Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.