Vietnamese Banh Mi Salad
This Vietnamese Chicken Banh Mi Recipe, served as a Vietnamese Salad, is a favorite you can enjoy, even when you’re watching your waistline.
After the annual holiday free-for-all, It’s now time to refocus on healthy eating habits and exercise.
Boy, do I ever need it!
I could probably use a couple weeks of solid greens to get myself back on track.
It can be a little tricky to recalibrate your diet and still enjoy what you eat…
This Vietnamese Salad should make my annual January transition from sugar-laden gluttony to healthy eating a bit easier. (Few things make me happier than Vietnamese cuisine.)
It’s a variation of a personal favorite, the traditional Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich.
I like to call it a Banh Mi Recipe, yet since “Banh Mi” refers to bread, I guess the name isn’t really appropriate.
This bread-less Banh Mi Recipe, is light, healthy, and has all the bright flavors of a classic Banh Mi sandwich, stacked on a bed of crispy greens.
Spicy grilled chicken, sweet pickled cucumbers and radishes, carrots, herbs, even the mayonnaise is represented in a light creamy vinaigrette.
The Vietnamese Chicken is marinated in a savory, yet tangy, mixture of fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and jalapeno to give it a bold “umami” flavor.
A touch of sugar in the marinade causes the outside of the Vietnamese chicken to caramelize when it grills, so it’s dark and crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
I tossed the cucumbers and radishes in a sweet pickling liquid, so they absorb the flavor and soften just a little. The vinegar mixture is then used as the base of the vinaigrette, to make this Vietnamese Salad come together in a flash.
This Banh Mi style Vietnamese Salad is loaded with flavor. So much so, you won’t even miss the bread!
More Figure-Friendly Salads:
Smoked Trout Salad with Peaches and Avocado
Shaved Fennel Salad with Roasted Beets
Crunchy Kale Salad ~ Use Real Butter
Edamame and Quinoa Salad ~ Ambitious Kitchen
Chopped Brussels Sprouts with Blue Cheese ~ Two Peas & Their Pod
Vietnamese Banh Mi Salad
Ingredients
For The Vietnamese Chicken:
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 1/2 cup fish sauce
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 jalapeno chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
For the Vietnamese Salad:
- 1 cup sliced cucumber heaping
- 1 bunch radishes sliced
- 1 bunch green onions chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1 head romaine lettuce roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup hot tap water
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Banh Mi Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons reserved vinegar mixture
- 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the chicken marinade in a baking dish. Place the chicken in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop the vegetables for the salad. Mix the hot water, vinegar, red pepper and salt in a medium bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Then place the cucumbers and radishes in the mixture to pickle. Toss and set aside.
- Preheat the grill to medium heat. Grill the chicken for 5 minutes per side, then cover with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
- Place the romaine lettuce on dinner plates, topped with carrots, pickled cucumbers and radishes, sliced chicken, cilantro and green onions.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of the pickling vinegar liquid with mayo and olive oil. Whisk well and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the top of the salads.
Made this tonight and it was SO SO SO good! Loved the flavors!Â
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Made this for dinner tonight. It was a hit. Very delicious! I’ll be making it again. Was just like a vietnamese sandwich without the bread.
i was thinking if you really wanted to make it super healthy you could substitute the mayo with greek yogurt
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Thank you for your beautiful sounding recipes. I look forward to trying them over here in the U.K. I really enjoy your website too. I hope to find your cookery books over here in England.
This looks so delicious! My hubby absolutely hates mayo, though, so he won’t eat it as is. Do you think greek yogurt or sour cream would be good substitutions?
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Making your own fruit salad is not hard; you just need to prepare its ingredients. And the ingredients used are neither extinct nor hard to find, you can just whip out your wallet and make the march to the nearest grocery store.,
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i love banh ni so much- its a smart idea to cut down on carbs on add more veggies. totally digging it
This looks amazing — so glad you shared it on Facebook today!!!! It will be on my menu SOOOOOON!
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