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Asparagus and Chicken Salad With Ginger Dressing
![Asparagus and Chicken Salad With Ginger Dressing](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/05/27/dining/27KITCHEN1/27KITCHEN1-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1large shallot, finely diced, about 2 tablespoons
- 3tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Salt to taste
- Generous pinch of cayenne
- 1tablespoon grated ginger
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 2teaspoons sesame oil
- ¼cup vegetable oil
- 1pound asparagus
- Salt and pepper
- 1serrano chile, thinly sliced (optional)
- ½cup roasted peanuts, crushed
- ¾pound smoked chicken, sliced
- 1large lime, halved
- Basil, mint and cilantro leaves, about ½ cup total
For the Vinaigrette
For the Salad
Preparation
- Step 1
To make the vinaigrette, put shallots in a small bowl. Add vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and cayenne and let steep for 5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic, then whisk in sesame oil and vegetable oil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Step 2
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Snap off the tough end of each asparagus spear, then cut each spear into 2-inch lengths. Cut thicker pieces in half lengthwise as necessary so all cut pieces are approximately the same size. Place asparagus pieces into boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Drain and cool under running water. Blot dry.
- Step 3
To make the salad, put asparagus in a salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add chile, if using, and crushed peanuts. Dress with half the vinaigrette and toss to coat.
- Step 4
Arrange dressed asparagus on a platter or on individual plates. Tear chicken slices into strips and scatter over asparagus. Drizzle a little more vinaigrette over the salad and give it a good squeeze of lime. Garnish with basil, mint and cilantro leaves and serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
This was a fresh take on asparagus which I get tired of cooking the same few ways for a few weeks that's the only fresh spring produce available. I piled that on top of rice vermicelli noodles to make it into a lunch fare.
Very good, am planning on using the leftover dressing tonight for another salad. I used honey instead of brown sugar and only half the amount.
The ginger vinaigrette is excellent, a good balance of sweet and tart. I used it with other salad ingredients as well, on a baby kale salad with roasted butternut squash and almonds.
It's January, and because I was not about to pay twice as much for asparagus that isn't even half as good as in-season, I made this with broccolini. Honestly, I think I would eat a shoe if it was served with this dressing. So good, I almost forgot I was on a diet. Made as directed, I didn't find the dressing too oily or sweet - it was balanced nicely by the serrano.
Have made this twice, really good. I added a bed of crisp greens and cucumber on the bottom. And, second time, used green beans instead of asparagus. This will be a go-to recipe for us.
Great! For those of weaker palates, nix the cayenne pepper and easy on the serrano chile.....there's mucho zing in the dressing already. I grilled some of Fairway Market's sweet chili marinated chicken breasts vs smoked chicken. Nice!
this was a fanastic salad. will come back to it mos def. suggest using the more slender asparagus, not the fatter ones. dressing is so flavorful.
siobhan 15 days ago
Awesome salad! Great for a hot weekday dinner. Used a Rotisserie chicken and doubled the asparagus and the dressing. Dressing is terrific! Served on gf spinach fettuchini with pickled cucumbers on the side. Everyone loved it!
Anne a year ago
(Try green beans if can't get asparagus)
A very nice way to serve asparagus. Made some changes. Roasted the asparagus for 5 minutes at 400F. Roasted a rd onion and a red pepper at 400F. Mixed all gently and served with the ginger dressing. A winner!!!
I saw this as a variation on salade nicoise and was intrigued. I added lettuce and boiled potatoes. Cut the brown sugar in half, also the vegetable oil. I discovered we had no sesame oil, so I substituted tahini sauce. Halved the amount of vegetable oil and replaced it with peanut oil instead of using peanuts. The end result was Lower in calories altogether. Pret-ty tasty!
Added sweet potato, probably doubled dressing. Delicious and liked by all picky eaters!
Added chopped cilantro and cashews for lack of peanuts and udon noodles to make ita a meal
piled that on top of rice vermicelli noodles
This is a great recipe! I made it with fresh baked salmon as that is what I had on hand - no mint, pine nuts instead of peanuts and added some hothouse cucumber I had on hand - I think the recipe as is (not my version) would have been even better - but it was still great. The dressing /sauce is fantastic!
Delicious! I poached the chicken, and my family laughed I was making boiled meat with salad. But it 100% worked since the other flavors are so amazing together. My daughter even asked for the recipe.
Can you used toasted sesame oil in place of sesame oil?
My bunch of asparagus was shy of a pound so I added a shredded carrot and a red pepper to make up the weight and for added color. Served it on cold soba noodles. Definitely a keeper.
The dressing is really delicious. I made a double batch the 2nd time I made this and used chili crisp instead of cayenne. I had some snow peas from the garden so I used those. The 2nd time I made this I couldn’t find any smoked chicken so I used smoked salmon. Tasted wonderful.
Great salad, dressing is delicious. I mixed in cooked farro, used leftover grilled chicken and smoked almonds. Will definitely make again.
Made it with leftover chicken. Served over some linguine to make it more main course. Used thinly sliced red bell peppers so not as spicy. No peanuts, but a little Parmesan. Very good.
Delicious I don't like smoked chicken (who does?) so used cubes of pan fried chicken breast and served with rice my kids did not complain = a hit in my house.
My favorite salad dressing! in lieu of "smoked chicken" i make poached chicken using Melissa Clark's "Garlic-Chile Chicken Breasts" recipe on p. 35 using MisoGinger Broth, soy, ginger, garlic, jalapeño, i bring to boil, simmering for 10 minutes before adding chicken. add halved chicken breast and immediately remove from heat, stand for 10 minutes covered, turning chicken after 5 minutes also use in combination with Quinoa Arugula Salad
This is a delicious recipe! I used Grilled Chicken and Purple Asparagus, and my sister made it with Grilled Salmon. I'm thinking any protein could work -- plant or animal based. The dressing is everything.
Loved this!
Second time through this recipe (on a warm summer evening) I grilled both the chicken and the asparagus on the Weber. Sliced the asparagus on the diagonal into pieces and tossed in a grill basket. Worked out great and I didn’t have to heat up my kitchen.
Vinaigrette with crushed peanuts will be a staple from now on in our recipe repertoire! Can see why smoked chix would be even better but grilled was great too! Perfect for brunch, weekend lunch or lighter dinner.
One minute seemed a little short on the asparagus so I went longer, which turned out to be a mistake. Crunchy would have been better. Otherwise this recipe was a winner and well worth repeating. For the chicken, I skipped the smoked and roasted a small fryer.
This is a delicious recipe for a summer meal. It did NOT take 30 minutes, more like an hour.
Did a trick. Poached chicken breasts in chicken broth with addition of liquid smoke. After poaching left the chicken breasts in the poaching water and froze the whole thing (to make the salad later) Breasts were perfectly "smoked"
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