Sarasota's Thai Cobb Salad

I love cobb salad, and make a few variations -this is one of my favorites. My favorite is to use pork and chicken in this recipe, but you could easily use all pork or all chicken; and is a great way to use up that rotisserie chicken of even leftover pulled pork.(minus the BBQ sauce) in this recipe. Serve this family style and enjoy summers best fruits and vegetables. These are my favorite topping on this salad, but feel free to add other vegetables. And remember this makes a big salad and it is meant to served as a main course. Serve with some baked bread or rolls for a very satisfying dinner. You can always serve this individually for a dinner party, but for me the presentation of a large serving platter makes it even better. This is a great potluck or BBQ salad because it can be dressed when it is served and it is so pretty.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Serves: 8-12
• Yields: 8-12 Individual small servings

Ingredients

• Dressing

• 1⁄2 cup  Italian salad dressing (a store bought dressing will work just fine)
• 1  tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  grated fresh ginger
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 crushed red pepper flakes

• Salad

• 4  cups napa cabbage, shredded
• 2  cups romaine lettuce, chopped
• 2  cups bibb lettuce, chopped
• 1⁄4 cup fresh cilantro, fine chopped
• 1⁄2 cup scallion, fine chopped (white and green parts)
• 1  large shallot, thin sliced

• Toppings

• 2  cups  left over pork, beef or 2  cups chicken
• 1  avocado, diced
• 1  mango, diced
• 1  cup carrot, shredded (you can buy them shredded right in the produce aisle)
• 1  cup seedless cucumber, lightly seeded, peeled and shredded
• 1⁄2 cup  red pepper, thin sliced
• 1⁄2 cup  honey roasted peanuts, lightly chopped

• Optional

•  snow peas
•  bean sprouts
•  zucchini

Directions

1. Dressing -- Just mix the salad dressing, soy sauce, ginger and red pepper flakes together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Chicken and Pork -- Now, I won't go into particular cooking directions because you can use; leftovers, rotisserie, roasted breasts, slices of tenderloin; or you can pan sear a couple of boneless loin chops or chicken breasts in some olive oil with salt and pepper. You need 2 cups total, whether you use all chicken or chicken and pork mixed.
3. Salad -- On a large serving platter, mix the lettuce (I like to use all 3 for a nice combination, but you can use what you enjoy best). The combination of the crisp romaine, soft bibb and the cabbage really makes this salad great. Then toss in the scallions, shallot, and cilantro.
4. Toppings -- How I like to present the salad is to put rows of each topping across the top of the salad. It makes it pretty and makes a great way to present the salad. I started with carrots, then chicken, avocado, red pepper, pork, mango and cucumber. Just pile on the topping in rows, and finish by topping with the chopped peanuts.
5. Finish -- I dress the salad lightly with some of the dressing and always add extra so people can more if needed.
6. It sounds like a lot but really when you think about it. It is the entire main course. And take advantage of the shredded carrots, even the bagged lettuce and leftover chicken or pork. That makes this a really nice salad.