Peanut Chicken Soba Salad

You'll only need about 15 minutes to cook the chicken and noodles for this Asian salad. If short on time, substitute rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken, and purchase preshredded carrots from your supermarket's produce section.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup salad and 1 teaspoon peanuts)

Ingredients

• 2  cups  water
• 2  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4  black peppercorns
• 1  bay leaf
• 1  tablespoon  rice vinegar
• 2  tablespoons  roasted peanut oil
• 2  teaspoons  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon  honey
• 1  teaspoon  chili garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 2  cups  cooked soba noodles (about 4 ounces uncooked)
• 1  cup  grated carrot
• 1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 1/4  cup  minced red onion
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh basil
• 4  teaspoons  chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
• Lime wedges (optional)

Preparation

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let stand 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan, and discard peppercorns, bay leaf, and cooking liquid. Shred chicken; place in a large bowl.

Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through salt), stirring with a whisk. Pour over chicken; let stand 5 minutes. Add soba noodles and the next 4 ingredients (noodles through chopped basil) to chicken mixture, and toss well. Sprinkle with peanuts. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

256 (33% from fat)

Fat:

9.5g (sat 1.7g,mono 4.2g,poly 2.9g)

Protein:

23.9g

Carbohydrate:

19.5g

Fiber:

2.5g

Cholesterol:

49mg

Iron:

1.3mg

Sodium:

538mg

Calcium:

30mg