Edamame Salad With Peanut Dressing Recipe

I am a fiend for a good salad, and growing up in the Chicago area, my favorite salad for a long time (and maybe still today) was the chopped salad at Portillo's. I know what you're thinking, and yes, Portillo's, known for its hot dogs, hamburgers, chocolate cake, and Polish sausages, also makes a mean salad, and one that is far better than most others on the market. It's a salad made up of chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato, scallions, Gorgonzola, cabbage, and ditalini pasta, all chopped together and tossed with a generously-seasoned Italian dressing. While it's debatable how nutritious the salad really is (though it only rings in at 510 calories), there's no question that the chopped, flavorful format is unbeatably good.

My goal in developing this edamame salad was to replicate everything I loved about Portillo's chopped salad, but with a completely different flavor profile. Dressed in a Thai-inspired peanut dressing, this version of the chopped salad is filled with edamame, lettuce, cabbage, scallions, cucumber, avocado, and a savory, soy-baked chopped chicken. It's packed with protein and nutty umami flavor, and is perfect for enjoying a chopped salad in a completely new way.

To make the peanut dressing, you'll need creamy peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic, limes, and red pepper flakes. You'll keep the soy sauce, maple syrup, and garlic handy for the chicken breasts (or thighs), which will also need canola oil and sesame oil. From there, you'll just need iceberg lettuce, cucumber, red cabbage, scallions, avocado, and edamame. You can find edamame cooked, shelled, and chilled in the produce section of your grocery store, or you can boil frozen edamame if fresh aren't available.

In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic, red pepper flakes, lime juice, and rice vinegar until completely combined.

Add water while whisking until the dressing is thinned. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the canola oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, and garlic.

Add the chicken and let it marinate 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through and browned. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Dice the chicken into ½-inch pieces.

In a very large bowl, combine the lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, scallions, avocado, diced chicken, and edamame.

Toss the salad with the prepared peanut butter dressing, then serve.

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How thin your dressing should be is technically up to you — if you want a more potent peanut butter flavor, use less water and opt for a thicker dressing. For the best results, though, your dressing should be just thin enough to pour, similar to the consistency of syrup or heavy cream. This way, the dressing can be tossed into the salad easily. Water will thin the sauce without altering the flavor, but if you want a more tangy dressing, try using rice wine vinegar to thin it instead.

Adding water to peanut butter can often cause the peanut butter to seize up, leading to the creation of a sauce that looks thick and separated. To fix or avoid this, add the water in increments, stirring vigorously to emulsify the mixture into a creamy dressing. If the dressing still seems stiff, try heating the water until it is warm before combining it with the peanut butter. The warm temperature will make emulsification easier, leading to a smoother, thinner sauce.

This salad is inspired by Portillo's chopped salad, which includes tender pieces of ditalini pasta. The pasta adds a unique texture to a salad, as well as a welcome addition of a carb that makes the salad more satisfying overall. While this edamame salad doesn't include pasta in the recipe, you can still add it easily without changing anything else. You could add ditalini, which works well because it is a similar size to the other components of the salad, or you can match the Asian-inspired ingredient list and use ramen instead.

To use ramen, cook the noodles until just barely al dente, when they still have density and a bite. Then, chop them into bite-sized pieces, about 1 to 2 inches long. For a crunchy version, simply break the uncooked ramen into pieces using a meat mallet or wine bottle, then mix the crunchy pieces into the salad for a crouton-like effect.

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