Cashew Crunch Salad & Miso Chicken
coming from someone who has said many times "I do not like salad"
Here’s what’s been on the lunch rotation for a few weeks now: A big crunchy salad thats dripping with a very punchy umami dressing and showered with chopped cashews. Along side is my Miso Chicken Thighs that are stupid easy and will show you a new way to use miso. The real key to making this lunch happen for multiple days in a row is meal prep. So you get home from the supermarket with the ingredients I told you to buy. I’m not telling you what to do but here’s what I do to ensure that the salad and chicken ACTUALLY get made:
I immediately thinly slice all the veggies and pack them into glass containers.
I make a big batch of the dressing, and in a jar it goes.
I make the chicken marinade, rub it all over the chicken and let that hang out overnight (or for a few hours) in a glass container in the fridge. The longer it marinates, the juicer it becomes.
I roast the chicken, slice it all up and keep that in a glass container in the fridge. Either later that day or the next day before lunch.
What’s it all leading to? Lunchtime rolls around, only thing to do is toss the salad with the dressing, chop up the cashews and nestle some chicken on the side. Delicious. The full RECIPE is at the bottom of this email and is visible to paid subscribers.
Glass Containers
Glass container, glass container, glass container. I guess I made my point above that I really love glass storage containers. Specifically the ones that have the snap on lids. I can confidently say that you’ll never open my fridge without seeing one inside. I store everything in them. I take cheese out of the plastic and it goes into one. Obviously it’s a great place for leftovers. Cut up fruit! Homemade dips! Marinating meat. The other half of the can of coconut milk when I only needed half. You get my point. I can’t live without them. I’m linking below to the ones I use.
Pistachio & Raspberry Linzer Cookies
One of Dean’s classmate’s Mama had a baby girl this week. She loves linzer cookies, so I took it as an opportunity to bake a cookie I had never made before. Typically, I go online to look at recipes for something then I compare a few and make my own plan. If it’s a baked good I’m always heading to Sally’s Baking Addiction first. I have found over the years that her recipes are rock solid and I like the tips and advice she gives. I have zero affiliation with her, I just genuinely love her blog. Her Pistachio & Raspberry Linzers were of course no exception. Easy to follow and utterly delicious. I didnt even riff on them - I followed to a T.
Makes 4-6 servings (meant to be eaten over the course of a few days)
Cabbage: This can be green or red or a mix. Obviously you can buy pre-shredded cabbage. Here’s why I don't: 1. Too much plastic for me. 2. It’s dried out. 3. I don’t know how fresh it is. This salad is much better with freshly shredded cabbage. I shred mine on a mandoline for the best texture. But a sharp knife works great too. Or even better if you have a slicer disk on your food processor! I shred my carrots using the shredding disk on the food processor.
Miso: All miso is different. It differs in color, intensity, and saltiness. Therefore It’s hard to say exactly how much to use. I use Miso Master Organic White Mellow Miso. It’s my favorite and it can be found at many grocers these days. I’m sorry to report that I have heard the Trader Joe's White Miso is very very mild and lacks flavor. In general for this recipe I’d seek out a white or yellow miso.