Chinese Chicken Salad with Peanut Vinaigrette

We had our annual family reunion a few weeks ago and I made this salad for about 25 people.  It’s easy to make ahead the day before and toss with the vinaigrette right before serving.  The crunch of the broccoli slaw, carrots and peppers along with the crunch of roasted peanuts and chow mein noodles is wonderful.  I bought a bag of broccoli slaw, shredded carrots and frozen snap peas from Trader Joe’s which makes assembling the salad even easier.  I grilled 8 large chicken breasts the day before and shredded them and put all the vegetables in zip lock bags so right before serving I can just add everything to the salad bowl and toss the zip lock bags away with no clean up (always looking for ways to reduce clean up on the day of a party!).  It has a peanut vinaigrette with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, peanut butter, sesame oil, and is made tangy with some rice vinegar and then you toss the salad together with fresh cilantro.  I served grilled naan bread alongside.  A very light and refreshing salad for a hot summer day.  Click here for the recipe….