Thai Chicken Burgers and Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing

My normal: workout clothes, ponytail, and cooking (or chasing a toddler).  Todd took this while I was making this dinner a few weeks ago.  Please try not to notice the messy state of our house in the background.  Real life, people.

Anyway, I made some more recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook It’s All Good.  I just need to buy the book!  Because we enjoyed this meal, I wanted to share the recipes.  These recipes are from the book – they are not my original ideas.  I tweaked them slightly, but we really enjoyed them both!  We tried the Thai Chicken Burgers and the Carrot Ginger Dressing on a salad.

The dressing was amazing!  I used it that night, and on several salads the next couple days.  It would be great to toss into a cold Asian noodle salad, over chicken, veggies, and rice, or even as a topping for fish.

I chose to eat my burger without a bun because of gluten.  This makes it especially healthy and fits into the clean eating category.  This meal contains a great amount of vegetables, lean protein, and a whole lot of flavor!  It’s perfect if you’re craving an Asian meal, but want to skip out on extra sodium, sugar, and unhealthy fried food.  Take out Asian food is typically packed with all of those things, so this is a much better option.

 

Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing

(Makes 2 1/2 cups)

• 2 whole carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/4 c fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp sweet white miso paste*
• 1/4 c rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 c light oil (canola, vegetable, grape seed, etc)
• 1/4 c water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until completely smooth.  Serve over a salad of romaine or mixed greens, sugar snap peas (or shelled edamame), cucumber, green onion, tomato.

This should keep in a jar in the refrigerator for up to a week.

*I found this miso paste in the vegan (refrigerated) section at Earthfare.  I also just saw that Trader Joe’s sells some yellow miso paste, which I’m sure would work as a substitute.

 

Thai Chicken Burgers with Sriracha Mayo 

• 1 lb ground chicken**
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2 c cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 1 tsp jalapeño, finely minced
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp light oil (same as in the dressing above)

Mix the chicken, garlic, cilantro, shallots, jalapeño, fish sauce, salt and pepper together very well.  Form the mixture into 4 burgers.  Do not make them too thick – you want them cooked completely.

Heat a grill over medium heat, and either grease the grill rack well with oil, or rub some of the oil directly onto the burger.  Grill until they are firm to the touch and cooked through.

**We used very lean, ground chicken breast.  Next time I make these I will try turkey with a little more fat and possibly some dark meat to add moisture.

 

• 1/2 c mayonnaise
• 2-3 Tbsp sriracha
• 1 tsp lime juice

Mix these together (add more or less sriracha, depending on desired heat).  Use as a spread for the burger bun, or just as a condiment if you choose to eat the burger sans bun.