Thai Salad with Honey-Peanut-Lime dressing

This salad recipe is based on one from a lovely little cookbook I was given for Christmas last year. It's a Favourite Brand Name cookbook "3 books in one" with Chinese. Thai, and Japanese recipe sections. I love this book! And this recipe has no brand name items in it at all, same as many other recipes, so not sure why it's called Favourite Brand Names. Just as well! Apparently the recipe originally came from the National Honey Board, so it really gets around ;).

I've modified it, of course, I can never leave any recipe alone. One modification was including both Napa cabbage and romaine lettuce - the recipe had suggested either, which confused me as they are totally different things. I think including both makes it a cool coleslaw/salad morph. The dressing was way too sweet so I cut back on the honey (that it came from the Honey Board is now making sense!)and added extra lime juice for more tang. Also, I used basil instead of mint, but I think mint would be wonderful too. A few other changes and voila, a salad that has gotten rave reviews every time I make it!

You can add some chicken to it for a full meal deal, I've included the recipe for honey-lime glazed chicken as well. Enjoy!

Thai Salad with Honey-Peanut-Lime Dressing
1/2 head Napa or Savoy cabbage, shredded (about 4 cups)
1/2 head romaine lettuce, shredded (about 4 cups)
1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced into cute little crescent-moons
2 medium carrots, matchsticked
1/3 cup sliced red onion
2 small oranges, peeled and cut into segments (or suprêmes, if you are fancy)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts, chopped

Dressing
5 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp natural peanut butter
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or mint
1 Tbsp minced jalapeno
2 tsp soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp lime zest

Whisk together dressing ingredients until well-combined. Pour over salad ingredients and toss to coat.

Nutritional values: Makes about 10 cups of salad. For each cup: 99 calories, 4g fat, 2.7g protein, 14.2g carbs, 2g fibre, 42mg sodium.

Variation: Add Honey-lime chicken: Combine 4 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp lime juice, 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp jalapeno, 1 clove minced garlic. Add 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, toss to coat and let sit in fridge for 2 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Grill on medium heat for 15 minutes, turning once, or until no longer pink inside. Let rest. When cool enough to handle,pull into shreds.