Valicious Spicy Chicken Salad

My sister can attest to this...  We are Pei Wei fiends.  I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Pei Wei.  We especially love the Spicy Chicken Salad. The dressing is tangy and limey.  The Spicy sauce is .... well, SPICY!  The cold vegetables are such a crunchy, cool complement to the heat and spice of the chicken.  It's perfection in a bowl.

This morning I peered into the fridge to figure out what to make for dinner.  We had a bag of spinach that was hurtling closer and closer to its expiration date, a lonely cucumber, a little cilantro, and a tomato.  In the freezer, we have some pork chops, a package of italian sausage, a package of ground beef, and some chicken.  We had beef yesterday, I wasn't feeling pork chops, the sausage wasn't beckoning to me...  I took out the chicken and stuck it in a bowl in the fridge to defrost.  I wasn't feeling too inspired; I was thinking a grilled chicken salad.  Yawn.  I told The Husband I wished I could recreate the amazingness that is the Spicy Chicken Salad.  DUH!!!!  Of course I can!!!!

I picked The High Schooler up from a friend's house came home to my kitchen to create another masterpiece!!!  I think I nailed it!!!  It looks nothing like the salad above but the taste was almost spot on.  I didn't have any sugar snap peas or the fried noodle things but I did good!!!

The first thing I did was put the cucumbers in a cool bath.... uh... marinade.  It's the usual soak for veggies to serve with anything Asian that I make....

Cuke Soak
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

I mix the water, vinegar, and sugar together and then toss the cucumbers in.  I let it sit while I'm cooking.

Lime Vinaigrette
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all of the ingredients together and let sit until ready to serve.  (I think I mentioned that I will NEVER buy another bottle of salad dressing again....  Homemade is SOOOO easy and tasty!!!!).

Chicken
3 chicken breasts, cubed
2 tablespoons corn starch
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil.

Heat the oil in a pan. Mix the chicken, cornstarch, salt and pepper.  Place the chicken in the pan.  Cook until chicken is done; about 5 minutes (until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees).  When the chicken is done, pour the sauce (recipe below) into the pan and cook for 2 - 3 minutes (or until thickened).

Valicious Spicy Sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chile garlic sauce <==== It really isn't that spicy but if you're not a fan of heat, use less.
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil


Salad
In a bowl, pile in the salad veggies - spinach, cucumbers (removed from the "bath"), tomatoes, and cilantro.  Top with lime vinaigrette (I used about 1 tablespoon) and 1/4 of the chicken mixture.   YUMMMMMMMY!!!!!