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Chicken and Papaya Salad
A light, very agreeable salad (and for those that enjoy asian flavours this is definitely a treat.) Again, this salad recipe is very versatile and marry's very well to grilled squid, turkey and white flesh fish should you choose for a change.
The use of nuts is, I believe a necessity, to balance against the bland texture of the papaya and mango. I alternate between the use of peanuts and flaked almonds

If you have time to marinade the chicken, all the better. However if you don't, don't worry, the flavours of the dressing will more than admirably make up for this error

Also please don't panic if you don't have all the ingredients for the dressing. The more ingredients you have the more layers of flavour you can build, however if one or two ingredients are missing, its not the end of the world, so chill and breathe easy

Serves 4

Recipe Ingredients
4 x chicken breasts
1 Tblsp vegetable oil
3cm / 1 thumb of fresh ginger or galangal
2 cloves garlic
1 red chilli

For the salad:
A selection of mixed leaves: i.e. lollo rosso, little gem, radicchio, frisse etc
1/4 cup mixed herbs: fresh coriander, basil and mint
55g / 2 oz peanuts
1/2 papaya
1/2 mango

For the dressing:
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup coriander
1/2 red onion
2 limes, zest and juice of
1 red chilli
2 Tblsp palm sugar / brown sugar
3 Tblsp nam plaa / fish sauce
4 Tblsp light soy sauce
4 Tblsp water

Mise-en-Place:
Marinade the chicken; chop the garlic, ginger and chilli. Mix with the vegetable oil and pour over the chicken, leave for at least 30 minutes (although longer would be better!)
Cut or peel the mango and papaya into thin slices
Crush the peanuts, either with the flat of a knife or by wrapping in a tea towel and striking with a rolling pin

Method:
Pan-fry the chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes each side on a moderate heat.
To test if the chicken is cooked insert a knife into the thickest part of the flesh, it should be white and the juices should run clear. If it is still pink and translucent return to the pan for another minute or two.
Allow to cool before slicing into strips

Make the dressing:
Roughly chop the onion, garlic, herbs and chilli
Then simply mix all the ingredients together

To assemble the salad:
Toss the salad ingredients with the chicken
Either pour over the dressing or serve it separately

Adjust:
To adjust the dressing:
Too astringent or sour: Add more sugar and a touch of water
Too sweet: Add more soy
Too salty: Add more water
Not salty enough: Add more nam plaa / fish sauce
Too bland: Add more nam plaa, coriander, chilli and lime

Presentation:
Two choices, either in a bowl or on a plate.
On a plate:
Arrange the salad into alternating layers of mixed leaves, papaya, mango and the chicken. Garnish with the crushed peanuts and herbs
In a bowl: Arrange a base of the mixed leaves, then pile the chicken, papaya and mango to achieve decent height. Dust with the peanuts and herbs, serve the dressing on the side