This chicken and spelt salad has a spicy soy sauce dressing and is both colorful and zesty.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh garlic
- 1 serrano chile peppers, minced
- 1 cup spelt kernels
- 6 cups water
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 quart water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
- 3 carrot, thinly sliced
- 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
Instructions
- Whisk together soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, vinegar, peanut butter, cayenne pepper, ginger, garlic, and serrano in a small bowl; set aside.
- Toast spelt kernels in a dry skillet on medium-high heat until the kernels are browned and some have popped. Remove, place in a mesh strainer, and rinse well with cold water. Drain. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan; add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and stir in spelt kernels. Return to a boil then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain well and set aside to cool.
- While the spelt is simmering, fill a skillet with 1 quart water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and onion. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add chicken breasts, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from liquid and allow to cool.
- Once chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into bite-sized chunks and place in a large bowl. Stir in spelt, bell pepper, green onions, parsley, cilantro, carrots, and cabbage. Pour sauce over salad and stir well to combine.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 226 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 22 g |
| Cholesterol | 27 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 643 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 10 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This looks delicious and I’d really like to try it. What is spelt and where do you find it in the grocery store? Thanks!
The first time I made this, I followed the directions except for the amount of hot pepper it was delicious and different.
I have made this recipe probably a dozen times since I discovered it, and I absolutely love it. I make zero alterations to the ingredients other than a few time-saving tips: (1) I use rotisserie chicken to save myself cooking the chicken breasts. Bonus: a chicken carcass to cook down for broth later! (2) I use all-natural peanut butter (with no sugar added) because I don’t care for the added sweetness and prefer the more pure peanut flavor. (3) I dice everything in bite-sized pieces so you can get a little bit of everything in one bite. I have used fresh jalapeños in place of serranos in a pinch because we grow our own, and they are always on hand. Toasting the spelt is absolutely essential for a yummy nutty flavor. This is one of those recipes that just gets better and better with time…but it can also get spicier and spicier with time, so watch your cayenne if you’re not a lover of the burn. Love this recipe; it’s perfect as-is, and thank you so much for it. It’s an absolute favorite!
I really enjoyed this recipe, but I did end up making more spelt to make it more like a grain salad, it was pretty heavy on the chicken. I also upped the dressing because of the extra spelt.
This is a wonderful dish for a potluck. I also made it again for myself to keep on hand
This is a great all inclusive recipe. Really this has all you need for a complete meal. I recommend an app. or edamame (just buy the stuff you can steam!) and you will have a nice, healthy Asian-ish meal.
I have made this so many times and it is always a big hit. The only changes we make are barley for spelt, and tamarin for soy sauce. 😀 I have made this for several potlucks, served over lettuces leaves. Great fresh summer dinner!
Delicious! I have been looking for a good spelt recipe for years, and now I have found it! I don’t eat peanut butter, so I used tahini instead. This dish is perfect both hot and cold.
Kids loved it! Really flavorful and good texture. I will definitely make this again!
Used Quinoa instead of spelt – awesome
Loved it! A little too spicy for the kids but they don’t eat anything but hot dogs anyway. I couldn’t find spelt so I subbed out cooked quinoa instead. This also shortened the cooking time. I will make this again. It is a lot of chopping and not a fast meal, but worth it.
Made this tonight and it was very good. Three out of four of us really enjoyed it, which is a close to a hit as anything other than ice cream gets in our house. I love getting a new way to use an unusual grain. Spelt is delicious and the nutty texture went well with the peanut sauce. I did think the final dish was a bit salty between the soy sauce and the salted spelt water so next time I will not salt the water and wait until the end to add any salt. I did not have any cabbage so I substituted in broccoli so the dish came out more stir fry than salad but that is great either way. I did double the sauce recipe because I doubled the veggies like I usually do in recipes.
This dish was excellent! The sauce tastes just like something from Trader Joes. I will say I could not find Spelt from our local QFC (which is odd considering they have almost anything). I substituted the spelt for quinoa and like I said, this was great! I think you could easily substitute the spelt for any number of things with good results, say some kind of asian style noodle or even brown rice. I don’t think white rice would be as good, especially something with a sweet flavor like Jasmin rice. I’ll definitely be making this again, only with Spelt, which I’m hoping exists at Whole Foods…
One of the best things I have ever made.
This is the first time I’ve ever commented and it’s because I absolutely LOVED this salad!! Yum yum yum!!!! Perfect spicyness and such a completely balanced meal. I did add Napa Cabbage to the mix and I used Kamut since I didn’t have any spelt. I also through in some chicken bouillon when I boiled the chicken.
Okay, I didn’t try the whole recipe because this was a last minute thing, but I made the dressing for an oriental chicken salad and it was delicious. I also substituted 1 tbsp. sweet chile sauce for the cayenne and serrano peppers which probably toned it down a little (I have four little eaters). It made a delicious marinade for the chicken and an excellent dressing. I will never buy peanut sauce again!
Tried Spelt berries for the first time with your recipe. It was a delicious way to try a new food! Thanks! A very beautiful dish too!
The sauce is wonderful! I just added it to my stir-fried veggies and it was great warm too.
Fantastic. I brought it today for volunteer lunch for my SPCA thrift store lunch and they scarfed it down.
I saved this recipe even though I am supposed to eat “gluten free” and spelt is classed as gluten. I just substituted rice for the spelt. The sauce is wonderful, and I am going to use it in other recipes I make! Thanks for sharing ACUS!!!