Thai Crunch Chicken Salad

I'm absolutely, positively in love with this Asian inspired salad! Apparently, California Pizza Kitchen's version has a cult following with an extensive list of copy-cat recipes in blogland. I haven't had CPK's version, but Asian flavors are ones I crave often and a salad like this is hard to beat. I read through recipe after recipe, but in the end, I combined bits and pieces of what I found to develop something of my own. 

A creamy peanut dressing was a must, but I wanted to be sure to keep the ingredients simple and cut out the junk. The end result was fantastic! 

Thai Crunch Chicken Salad 

Salad-
1 head napa cabbage, chopped
1/2 head red cabbage, chopped
6 green onions, finely sliced
2-3 large carrots, shredded (a vegetable peeler works great!)
1 cup edamame, steamed and shelled
Rotisserie chicken, shredded
handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
dry roasted peanuts, chopped

Creamy Peanut Dressing-
1/4 creamy peanut (or almond) butter
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
one lime, juiced
3 Tbsp. Pour Olive Toasted Sesame Oil 
1 Tbsp. Tamari
1 tsp. honey
1 garlic clove, chopped
a few shakes of ginger
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
salt, to taste

In a blender or small food processor, combine all dressing ingredients, except for the cilantro and salt. Blend until combined. Once smooth, add cilantro and salt to taste.

In a large salad bowl, combine all fresh ingredients and toss. Top with chicken, cilantro and a drizzle of creamy peanut dressing.